**DREAM COUNT, the searing, exquisite new novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is out now!** A personal and powerful essay from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the bestselling author of Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun. ‘I would like to ask that we begin to dream about and plan for a different world. A fairer world. A world of happier men and happier women who are truer to themselves. And this is how to start: we must raise our daughters differently. We must also raise our sons differently…’ What does “feminism” mean today? In this personal, eloquently argued essay – adapted from her much-admired Tedx talk of the same name – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the twenty-first century, one rooted in inclusion and awareness. Drawing extensively on her own experiences and her deep understanding of the often masked realities of sexual politics, here is one remarkable author’s exploration of what it means to be a woman now – an of-the-moment rallying cry for why we should all be feminists.

We Should All Be Feminists

The story is a double play: is it the story of a woman going mad, or a woman possessed by something evil? We begin to suspect that the narrator’s apparently caring husband John, may not be as caring as she thinks. Is he trying to control her? We know that Charlotte was much concerned with the emancipation of women and them achieving financial independence, so is the character of John an echo of this? The horror in the story revolves around the Yellow Wallpaper and like many of us, she sees to have seen patterns in the abstract wallpaper that eventually evolve into characters. She ultimately can enter the wallpaper and more disturbingly, the woman from the wallpaper can come out into her room. The bizarreness of the crouching, creeping figures serves to unnerve the reader.

The Yellow Wallpaper

A classic work of psychology, this international bestseller provides a groundbreaking insight into the human mind. With an introduction by Will Self, read by Oliver Sacks. If a man has lost a leg or an eye, he knows he has lost a leg or an eye; but if he has lost a self – himself – he cannot know it, because he is no longer there to know it. In this extraordinary book, Dr. Oliver Sacks recounts the stories of patients struggling to adapt to often bizarre worlds of neurological disorder. Here are people who can no longer recognize everyday objects or those they love; who are stricken with violent tics or shout involuntary obscenities, and yet are gifted with uncanny artistic or mathematical talents. If inconceivably strange, these brilliant tales illuminate what it means to be human. A provocative exploration of the mysteries of the human mind, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is a million-copy bestseller by the twentieth century's greatest neurologist.

Picador Collection

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

A short satirical thriller from bestselling author Freida McFadden. My husband is dead. I attended his funeral. I watched his casket be lowered six feet into the ground. (Actually, it may have been only five feet, but that still seems like more than enough.) And then we ate an array of finger sandwiches and deviled eggs and miniature beef wellingtons that cost more than my first car. My point is, Grant is gone. And so are all his many, many deep, dark secrets which I never really ever bothered to ask him about. He is never coming back. So why do I still see his face everywhere I go? The Widow's Husband's Secret Lie is an utterly addictive, unputdownable, nail-biting, absolutely gripping psychological thriller novella with a shocking, breathtaking, heartstopping, spine-chilling twist that you won't see coming, will leave you stunned, and will literally have you picking your jaw up off the floor and bringing it to the nearest hospital for major facial reconstructive surgery.

The Widow's Husband's Secret Lie

‘A thrill for the sickos among us’ JIA TOLENTINO ‘Utterly inimitable’ RAVEN LEILANI ‘Unrelentingly brutal and gut-bustingly funny and spares no one’ CARMEN MARIA MACHADO 'Symbiotically serious and funny' MEGAN NOLAN 'The funniest, darkest thing' ST VINCENT LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION An audacious, original and unforgettable novel-in-stories that follows a cast of intricately linked characters as rejection throws their lives and relationships into chaos. Sharply observant and outrageously funny, Rejection is a provocative plunge into the thorniest problems of modern life: sex, relationships, identity and the internet. We see a young man’s passionate allyship turn to a furious and debilitating nihilism as he realizes, over thirty lonely years, that his feminism isn’t getting him laid; a young woman’s unrequited crush spirals into borderline obsession and the systematic destruction of both her sense of self and her group chat; and witness a shy late bloomer’s flailing efforts at a first relationship lead to a life-upending mistake. As these characters pop up in each other’s dating apps and social media feeds, or meet in dimly lit bars and bedrooms, they reveal the ways that our delusions can warp our desire for connection. Written with the accomplished authority of a modern classic and the manic intensity of a losers’ manifesto, Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte radically redefines what it means to be rejected by lovers, friends, society and oneself. ‘A book of mad, madcap genius’ Garth Greenwell ‘He writes about these things in the way Anthony Bourdain wrote about restaurants… Tulathimutte is a big talent’ The New York Times Book Review ‘Blistering … takes a magnifying glass to the mind in the internet age’ Vogue ‘There’s a volatile thrill to the writing … snortingly funny’ Wall Street Journal ‘Obsessively readable, acerbic, Foster Wallace–inflected’ Vanity Fair ‘A master comedian with a virtuoso prose style … audacious, original and highly disturbing’ New York Times Magazine A Book of the Year in Wall Street Journal, New York Times, New Yorker, NPR, Time Magazine, Vanity Fair, Esquire, Kirkus Review and Electric Literature.

Rejection

'Outstandingly weird and memorable' GUARDIAN 'Deliciously creepy' NEW SCIENTIST Fear never dies…These stories from eighteen master storytellers will curdle your blood, haunt your dreams and redefine terror. From a hungry young woman who is not what she seems, to a boy who has taken his mother's advice a little too seriously; from disfigured girls willing to pay any price to fit in, to an immigrant who cannot escape his tormentor in his new home country; from a new home with a sinister secret, to the discovery that a long-dead parent’s corpse is perfectly preserved decades later; this collection plumbs the depths of the psyche and dredges up some very modern horrors.

Of the Flesh

Read by the full cast of authors When was the last time you heard a Muslim woman speak for herself without a filter? Shortlisted for Foyles Non-Fiction Book of the Year 'Engrossing . . . fascinating . . . courageous' – Observer In 2016, Mariam Khan read that David Cameron had linked the radicalization of Muslim men to the ‘traditional submissiveness’ of Muslim women. Mariam felt pretty sure she didn’t know a single Muslim woman who would describe herself that way. Why was she hearing about Muslim women from people who were neither Muslim, nor female? Years later the state of the national discourse has deteriorated even further, and Muslim women’s voices are still pushed to the fringes – the figures leading the discussion are white and male. Taking one of the most politicized and misused words associated with Muslim women and Islamophobia, It’s Not About the Burqa is poised to change all that. Here are voices you won’t see represented in the national news headlines: seventeen Muslim women speaking frankly about the hijab and wavering faith, about love and divorce, about feminism, queer identity, sex, and the twin threats of a disapproving community and a racist country. With a mix of British and international women writers, from activist Mona Eltahawy's definition of a revolution to journalist and broadcaster Saima Mir telling the story of her experience of arranged marriage, from author Sufiya Ahmed on her Islamic feminist icon to playwright Afshan D'souza-Lodhi's moving piece about her relationship with her hijab, these essays are funny, warm, sometimes sad, and often angry, and each of them is a passionate declaration calling time on the oppression, the lazy stereotyping, the misogyny and the Islamophobia. What does it mean, exactly, to be a Muslim woman in the West today? According to the media, it’s all about the burqa. Here’s what it’s really about.

It's Not About the Burqa

Read by the author, this is Louis Theroux's hilarious and thought-provoking journey through weird America. For 10 years, Louis Theroux has been making programmes about off-beat characters on the fringes of US society. Now he revisits America and the people who have most fascinated him to try to discover what motivates them, why they believe the things they believe, and to find out what has happened to them since he last saw them. Along the way, Louis thinks about what drives him to spend so much time among weird people and considers whether he's learned anything about himself in the course of ten years working with them. Has he manipulated the people he's interviewed, or have they manipulated him? From his Las Vegas base, Louis revisits the assorted dreamers and outlaws who have been his TV feeding ground. Attempting to understand a little about himself and the workings of his own mind, Louis considers questions such as: what is the difference between pathology and "normal" weirdness? Is there something particularly weird about Americans? What does it mean to be weird, or "to be yourself"? And do we choose our beliefs or do our beliefs choose us?

The Call of the Weird

Shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize for Fiction 'An instant classic' - THE GUARDIAN 'A bloody masterpiece.' - MELISSA BRODER, author of THE PISCES 'Witty, emotional and gripping, Open Throat is a short but savage thrill ride' - THE INDEPENDENT 'Open Throat is Bret Easton Ellis meets mountain lion in the Hollywood Hills . . . it already has people talking' - THE SUNDAY TIMES I’ve never eaten a person but today I might . . . A queer and dangerously hungry mountain lion lives in the drought-devastated land under the Hollywood sign. Fascinated by the voices around them, the lion spends their days protecting a nearby homeless encampment, observing hikers complain about their trauma and, in quiet moments, grappling with the complexities of their own identity. When a man-made fire engulfs the encampment, the lion is forced from the hills down into the city the hikers call 'ellay'. As they confront a carousel of temptations and threats, the lion takes us on a tour that spans the cruel inequalities of Los Angeles. But even when salvation finally seems within reach, they are forced to face down the ultimate question: do they want to eat a person, or become one? 'Open Throat is what fiction should be.' - THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW 'A blinding spotlight beam of a book that I was completely unable and unwilling to put down.' - Catherine Lacey, author of Pew Named a Most Anticipated Book by The New York Times, ELLE, Vanity Fair, Buzzfeed, i-D, Boston Globe, Nylon, Alta, Shondaland, Chicago Review of Books, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Literary Hub.

Open Throat

Isaac Asimov’s Robot series – from the iconic collection I, Robot to four classic novels – contains some of the most influential works in the history of science fiction. Establishing and testing the Three Laws of Robotics, they continue to shape the understanding and design of artificial intelligence to this day. What happens when a robot begins to question its creators? What would be the consequences of creating a robot with a sense of humour? Or the ability to lie? How do we truly tell the difference between man and machine? In I, Robot, Asimov sets out the Three Laws of Robotics – designed to protect humans from their robotic creations – and pushes them to their limits and beyond. Following genius robopsychologist Dr. Susan Calvin and engineers Powell and Donovan, these short stories helped to transform artificial intelligence from a dream into a science and changed perceptions of robots for ever.

I, Robot

A brand new collection of short stories featuring the Queen of Crime’s legendary detective Jane Marple, penned by twelve remarkable bestselling and acclaimed authors.Read by Alex Kingston, Adrian Scarborough, Adjoa Andoh, Imogen Stubbs, Alison Steadman, Jodhi May, Chipo Chung, Cathy Tyson, Ramon Tikaram, Tanya Reynolds, Celia Imrie and Miriam Margolyes. This collection of twelve original short stories, all featuring Jane Marple, will introduce the character to a whole new generation. Each author reimagines Agatha Christie’s Marple through their own unique perspective while staying true to the hallmarks of a traditional mystery. · Naomi Alderman · Leigh Bardugo · Alyssa Cole · Lucy Foley · Elly Griffiths · Natalie Haynes · Jean Kwok · Val McDermid · Karen M. McManus · Dreda Say Mitchell · Kate Mosse · Ruth Ware Miss Marple was first introduced to readers in a story Christie wrote for The Royal Magazine in 1927 and made her first appearance in a full-length novel in 1930’s The Murder at the Vicarage. It has been 45 years since Agatha Christie’s last Marple novel, Sleeping Murder, was published posthumously in 1976, and this collection of ingenious new stories by twelve Christie devotees will be a timely reminder why Jane Marple remains the most famous fictional female detective of all time.

Marple: Twelve New Stories

Twelve early pieces never before collected that offer an illuminating glimpse into the mind and process of Joan Didion. Mostly drawn from the earliest part of her astonishing five-decade career, the wide-ranging pieces in this collection include Didion writing about a Gamblers Anonymous meeting, a visit to San Simeon, and a reunion of WWII veterans in Las Vegas, and about topics ranging from Nancy Reagan to Robert Mapplethorpe to Martha Stewart. Here are subjects Didion has long written about – the press, politics, California robber baronsac, women, the act of writing, and her own self-doubt. Each piece is classic Didion: incisive and, in new light, stunningly prescient.

Let Me Tell You What I Mean

On a pristine island in the Gulf of Finland, six-year-old Sophia is awakening to life, while her wise yet cranky grandmother is contemplating its end. This unlikely duo becomes each other's perfect companions for a season of unforgettable adventures. From crafting boats out of bark to creating their own miniature Venice, they explore their island world with youthful curiosity and aged wisdom. Along the way, they tackle the universal questions that captivate young and old: What is life and death? What is the nature of love and God? In this enchanting tale, Jansson crafts a world that is a microcosm of life's joys and sorrows, making "The Summer Book" a season you'll never want to end. © 2024 Tove Jansson, Moomin Characters™ Published in the English language by arrangement with Rights & Brands Finnish-Swedish writer and artist Tove Jansson (1914-2001) is globally cherished for creating the Moomin universe. Born in Helsinki, her tales of the Moomins captivated readers worldwide. Beyond Moominvalley, she penned profound adult novels, most notably "The Summer Book".

The Summer Book

An explosive love triangle, a formidable matriarch and a house party of enemies. All drawn inexorably … Towards Zero. Now Anjelica Huston and a star-studded cast feature in a brand new BBC adaptation of Agatha Christie's tense, ingenious novel. Read it before you see it! What is the connection between a failed suicide attempt, a wrongful accusation of theft against a schoolgirl, and the romantic life of a famous tennis player? To the casual observer, apparently nothing. But when a houseparty gathers at Gull’s Point, the seaside home of an elderly widow, earlier events come to a dramatic head. It’s all part of a carefully paid plan – for murder…

Towards Zero

**DREAM COUNT, the searing, exquisite new novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is out now!** From the best-selling author of Americanah and We Should All Be Feminists comes a powerful new statement about feminism today – written as a letter to a friend. I have some suggestions for how to raise Chizalum. But remember that you might do all the things I suggest, and she will still turn out to be different from what you hoped, because sometimes life just does its thing. What matters is that you try. In We Should All be Feminists, her eloquently argued and much admired essay of 2014, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie proposed that if we want a fairer world we need to raise our sons and daughters differently. Here, in this remarkable new book, Adichie replies by letter to a friend’s request for help on how to bring up her newborn baby girl as a feminist. With its fifteen pieces of practical advice it goes right to the heart of sexual politics in the twenty-first century.

Dear Ijeawele, Or A Feminist Manifesto In Fifteen Suggestions

**DREAM COUNT, the searing, exquisite new novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is out now!** A devastating essay on loss and the people we love from the bestselling author of Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun. 'Grief is a cruel kind of education. You learn how ungentle mourning can be, how full of anger. You learn how glib condolences can feel. You learn how much grief is about language, the failure of language and the grasping for language' On 10 June 2020, the scholar James Nwoye Adichie died suddenly in Nigeria. In this tender and powerful essay, expanded from the original New Yorker text, his daughter, a self-confessed daddy's girl, remembers her beloved father. Notes on Grief is at once a tribute to a long life of grace and wisdom, the story of a daughter's fierce love for a parent, and a revealing examination of the layers of loss and the nature of grief.

Notes on Grief

'One of the most important books to be published in years' SARA COLLINS 'There are few writers with Li’s power' DOUGLAS STUART 'I will return to it for the rest of my life' CHARLOTTE WOOD A remarkable, defiant work of radical acceptance from acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist Yiyun Li as she considers the loss of her son James. 'There is no good way to say this,' Yiyun Li writes at the beginning of this book. 'There is no good way to state these facts, which must be acknowledged. My husband and I had two children and lost them both: Vincent in 2017, at sixteen, James in 2024, at nineteen. Both chose suicide, and both died not far from home.' There is no good way to say this – because words fall short. It takes only an instant for death to become fact, 'a single point in a timeline'. Living now on this single point, Li turns to thinking and reasoning and searching for words that might hold a place for James. Li does what she can: including not just writing but gardening, reading Camus and Wittgenstein, learning the piano, and living thinkingly alongside death. This is a book for James, but it is not a book about grieving. As Li writes, 'The verb that does not die is to be. Vincent was and is and will always be Vincent. James was and is and will always be James. We were and are and will always be their parents. There is no now and then, now and later, only, now and now and now and now.' Things in Nature Merely Grow is a testament to Li’s indomitable spirit. As seen in the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, LA Times, TIME, and the Paris Review. 'To state that this courageous book is a testament to love is an understatement. One is left altered by it' OBSERVER 'A story of loss that is unlike any other book I've read … an unforgettable monument to endurance' SUNDAY TIMES 'Resolutely unsentimental, and yet it might wind you with its emotional force' GUARDIAN 'A memoir unlike others, strange and profound and fiercely determined not to look away' NEW YORK TIMES 'An extraordinary book’ SARAH MOSS 'A manifesto of living, not dying, and of how we endure the most unimaginable things' SINÉAD GLEESON, in THE WEEK 'A profound look at how a parent continues to live in a world without her children’TIME ‘Li’s astonishing record of how she has chosen acceptance over despair'LA TIMES ‘A book unlike any I've read, that brims with rare clarity and intelligence, with love and care. It will stay with me for a long time’ CECILE PIN

Things in Nature Merely Grow

There's a 5* Christmas mystery unfolding at The Regency Grand Hotel…Full of charm and feel-good festive cheer, The Mistletoe Mystery short story is the perfect stocking-filler this Christmas! ____ It’s the Christmas countdown at the Regency Grand Hotel, and Molly the maid is polishing up her holiday list. *Deck halls *Dust off decorations *Buy Secret Santa gift *Solve mystery? A festive plot throws Molly off-kilter. Why does her beau, Juan Manuel, keep disappearing? And why are the hotel corridors filled with whispers? Someone is keeping a secret. And, as Molly discovers, the answers to the mystery lie in a most unexpected gift… *Escape into the world of Molly the Maid in this delightful Christmas short story!* ____ Over a million readers have been swept away by Molly the Maid: 'Captivating, emotional, powerful and wise. I absolutely loved it and think Nita is my new favourite author' READER REVIEW ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'A book full of such charm!' READER REVIEW ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I didn’t think I could love a character any more than I loved Eleanor Oliphant but along comes Molly the Maid. God, I love her’ READER REVIEW ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Wow! I loved everything about this book' READER REVIEW ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Lots of twists and turns and highly gripping’ READER REVIEW ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Maid was a Sunday Times bestseller for w/c 08/05/2023

Molly the Maid

The Mistletoe Mystery

Immerse yourself in a world where the wonderful Stephen Fry reads some of the more memorable short stories of our time. A brilliant combination of reader and writer come together in these seven short stories available on digital download only. Immerse yourself in a world where the wonderful Stephen Fry reads some of the more memorable short stories of our time. Stephen's voice takes you into a different kind of listening experience, enabling you to imagine narrative, settings, places and people with vivid colour and meaning. Enjoy the work of one of the most celebrated writers in world literature – Russian playwright and short story writer Anton Chekov. A brilliant combination of reader and writer come together in these seven short stories available on digital download only. Includes An Avenger, A Blunder, Boys, The Huntsman, The Lady with the Dog, Misery and Oysters.

Stephen Fry Presents

Short stories by Anton Chekhov

An all-new collection of summer-themed mysteries from the master of the genre, just in time for the holiday season.Summertime – as the temperature rises, so does the potential for evil. From Cornwall to the French Riviera, whether against a background of Delphic temples or English country houses, Agatha Christie’s most famous characters solve even the most devilish of conundrums as the summer sun beats down. Pull up a deckchair and enjoy plot twists and red herrings galore from the bestselling fiction writer of all time. INCLUDES THE STORIES: The Blood-Stained Pavement The Double Clue A Death on the Nile Harlequin’s Lane The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman Jane in Search of a Job The Disappearance of Mr Davenheim The Idol House of Astarte The Rajah’s Emerald The Oracle at Delphi The Adventure of the Sinister Stranger The Incredible Theft

MIDSUMMER MYSTERIES: Secrets and Suspense from the Queen of Crime

There’s a serial killer on the loose, bent on working his way through the alphabet. And as a macabre calling card he leaves beside each victim’s corpe the ABC Railway Guide open at the name of the town where the murder has taken place. Having begun with Andover, Bexhill and then Churston, there seems little chance of the murderer being caught – until he makes the crucial and vain mistake of challenging Hercule Poirot to frustrate his plans…

The ABC Murders

Tolkien’s acclaimed modern classic ‘fairie’ tale, read by Derek Jacobi. ‘Here is something that no devotee of the Hobbit epic can afford to miss, while awaiting a further instalment of the history of these fascinating people – a selection [of verses] offered as an ‘interim report’ to those interested in Hobbit-lore, and to any others who may find amusement in this mixed bag of old confections.’ One of the most intriguing characters in The Lord of the Rings, the amusing and enigmatic Tom Bombadil, also appears in verses said to have been written by Hobbits and preserved in the ‘Red Book’ with stories of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins and their friends. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil collects these and other poems, mainly concerned with legends and jests of the Shire at the end of the Third Age. This special edition has been expanded to include earlier versions of some of Tolkien’s poems, a fragment of a prose story with Tom Bombadil, and comprehensive notes by acclaimed Tolkien scholars Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond.

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil

First there was the mystery of the film star and the diamond… then came the ‘suicide’ that was murder… the mystery of the absurdly cheap flat… a suspicious death in a locked gun-room… a million dollar bond robbery… the curse of a pharoah’s tomb… a jewel robbery by the sea… the abduction of a Prime Minister… the disappearance of a banker… a phone call from a dying man… and, finally, the mystery of the missing willl. What links these fascinating cases? Only the brilliant deductive powers of Hercule Poirot!

Agatha Christie Collection

Poirot Investigates

Brought to you by Penguin Longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025 ‘Without mud, the lotus could not survive.’ Born with a congenital muscle disorder, Shaka Isawa has severe spine curvature and uses an electric wheelchair and ventilator. Within the limits of her care home, her life is lived online: she studies, she tweets indignantly, she posts outrageous stories on an erotica website. One day, a new male carer reveals he has read it all – the sex, the provocation, the dirt. Her response? An indecent proposal… Written by the first disabled author to win Japan’s most prestigious literary award and acclaimed instantly as one of the most important Japanese novels of the 21st century, Hunchback is an extraordinary, thrilling glimpse into the desire and darkness of a woman placed at humanity’s edge. ‘Filled with unforgettable insight’ Sakaya Murata, author of Convenience Store Woman © Saou Ichikawa 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Hunchback

Brought to you by Penguin. The heartwarming Japanese bestseller for fans of Matt Haig, Fredrik Backman and THE CAT WHO SAVED BOOKS 'Library. What a nice-sounding word. So comforting. I feel like I'm a student again. Library ... Am I allowed to borrow books?' 'What are you looking for?' asks Tokyo's most enigmatic librarian, Sayuri Komachi. She is no ordinary librarian. Naturally, she has read every book on her shelf, but she also has the unique ability to read the souls of anyone who walks through her door. Sensing exactly what they're looking for in life, she provides just the book recommendation they never knew they needed to help them find it. Every borrower in her library is at a different crossroads, from the restless retail assistant - can she ever get out of a dead-end job? - to the juggling new mother who dreams of becoming a magazine editor, and the meticulous accountant who yearns to own an antique store. The surprise book Komachi lends to each will have transformative consequences. Magical and uplifting, What You Are Looking for is in the Library is about the wondrousness of libraries and the power of books for change. Highlighting all the tiny comforts of being alive, it is a story that no reader will ever forget. ©2023 Michiko Aoyama (P)2023 Penguin Audio

What You Are Looking for is in the Library

A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR AND FOUNDER OF THE EVERYDAY SEXISM PROJECT, LAURA BATES. 'Following [Everyday Sexism] will make most women feel oddly saner.' Caitlin Moran 'Piercingly astute.' Stylist Laura Bates, pioneering feminist, activist and bestselling author, has given voice to hundreds of thousands of women through her international Everyday Sexism Project. Drawing attention to both hidden and blatant sexist acts and attitudes, Laura has exposed the startling truth behind misogyny in our society: systemic, ingrained and ignored. From Weinstein to Westminster, a torrent of allegations of sexual harassment and assault have left us reeling. One hundred years since some women were first given the right to vote, we are still struggling to get to grips with the true extent of gender inequality that continues to flourish in our society. In this collection of essays, originally published in the Guardian, Laura Bates uncovers the sexism that exists in our relationships, our workplaces, our media, in our homes and on our streets, but which is also firmly rooted in our lifelong assumptions and in the actions and attitudes we explain away, defend and accept. Often dismissed as one-offs, veiled as 'banter' or described as 'isolated incidents', MISOGYNATION joins the dots to reveal the true scale of discrimination and prejudice women face. A bold, witty and incisive analysis of current events, MISOGYNATION makes a passionate argument for stepping back, opening our eyes and allowing ourselves to see the bigger picture. IN PRAISE OF LAURA BATES 'Funny and clever.' Telegraph 'Girl Up is an essential compendium of wit, wisdom, advice and straight-talk.' Sarah Knight 'We owe Bates a great debt of gratitude for her Everyday Sexism Project.' LA Times 'Laura was one of the first women to harness the power of social media to fight sexism and misogyny and give millions of young women a voice.' Grazia 'Bates takes a myth-busting approach to body image, food, sex and advertising and is particularly good at boiling down feminist language into a snappy, everyday vernacular' Metro 'For any woman who is sick of being told how to act, how to dress, or how to ward off unwanted advances, [Girl Up] is for you. Independent '[Girl Up is] another hard-hitting book which exposes the truth surrounding pressures on body image, false representations in the media, and lots of issues very relevant to girls today. Red

Misogynation

Read by a diverse cast of performers, including the author Olivie Blake Dazzling stories of love, magic and betrayal . . . A sensational collection from internationally bestselling author Olivie Blake. Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, the spirit tethered to a magical bridge rapidly approaches burnout – and craves her freedom. Elsewhere, Congress enacts a complex auditing system designed to un-waste your youth. We also follow a banished fairy, as she answers a Craigslist ad. And we meet a Victorian orphan, who gains literacy for her occult situationship. In another time and place, a multiverse assassin contemplates the one who got away. Escape the slow trudge of mortality with these magical ruminations on life, death and the love (or revenge) that outlasts both. This collection also features modified fairy tales, contemporary heists, absurdist poetry and at least one set of actual wedding vows. Januaries is collection of new and existing short stories from the internationally bestselling author Olivie Blake. ‘Olivie Blake is a mind-blowing talent’ – Chloe Gong, author of These Violent Delights ‘Sign me up for anything she writes’ – Cosmopolitan Also by Olivie Blake: The Atlas Six The Atlas Paradox The Atlas Complex Alone with You in the Ether One For My Enemy Masters of Death Olivie Blake is a multiple Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller - reaching No. 1 for The Atlas Complex in January 2024.

Januaries

From one of the most important chroniclers of our time, come two extended excerpts from her never-before-seen notebooks–writings that offer an illuminating glimpse into the mind and process of a legendary writer. Joan Didion has always kept notebooks: of overheard dialogue, observations, interviews, drafts of essays and articles Here is one such draft that traces a road trip she took with her husband, John Gregory Dunne, in June 1970, through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. She interviews prominent local figures, describes motels, diners, a deserted reptile farm, a visit with Walker Percy, a ladies' brunch at the Mississippi Broadcasters' Convention. She writes about the stifling heat, the almost viscous pace of life, the sulfurous light, and the preoccupation with race, class, and heritage she finds in the small towns they pass through. And from a different notebook: the "California Notes" that began as an assignment from Rolling Stone on the Patty Hearst trial of 1976. Though Didion never wrote the piece, watching the trial and being in San Francisco triggered thoughts about the city, its social hierarchy, the Hearsts, and her own upbringing in Sacramento. Here, too, is the beginning of her thinking about the West, its landscape, the western women who were heroic for her, and her own lineage.

South and West

A letter from beyond the graveOne last requestAn unsolvable crimeWhen Miss Marple receives a letter from the recently deceased millionaire Jason Rafiel, she’s not sure what to make of it. Knowing her deductive skills, he challenges her to solve a crime. If she does so, she will inherit £20,000. The only problem is that he has failed to mention who was involved, or where, and when the crime was committed. Jane Marple is intrigued. Never underestimate Miss Marple ‘Sorry Poirot, but I’m team Marple every time. A mind to rival the great Sherlock Holmes – and much handier with a knitting needle – yet patronised and underestimated by those around her, her invisibility is her superpower. That and her uncanny understanding of the darkest depths of human nature . . .’ Lucy Foley ‘Her gift is pure genius.’ Observer

Marple

Nemesis

Nick Buckley was an unusual name for a pretty young woman. But then she had led an unusual life. First, on a treacherous Cornish hillside, the brakes on her car failed. Then, on a coastal path, a falling boulder missed her by inches. Later, an oil painting fell and almost crushed her in bed. Upon discovering a bullet-hole in Nick’s sun hat, Hercule Poirot decides the girl needs his protection. At the same time, he begins to unravel the mystery of a murder that hasn’t been committed. Yet.

Peril at End House

'A brave writer whose books open up fundamental questions about life and art' – Telegraph In this inspiring collection of essays, acclaimed writer and critic Olivia Laing makes a vivid and politically-engaged case for the importance of art – especially in the turbulent weather of the twenty-first century. We are often told art can’t change anything. In Funny Weather, Laing argues that it can. It changes how we see the world, it exposes inequality, and it offers fertile new ways of living. Across a diverse selection of essays, Laing profiles Jean-Michel Basquiat and Georgia O’Keeffe, interviews Hilary Mantel and Ali Smith, writes love letters to David Bowie and Freddie Mercury, and explores loneliness and technology, women and alcohol, sex and the body. Written with originality and compassion, Funny Weather is a celebration of art as a force of resistance and repair – and as an antidote to a frightening political moment.

Funny Weather

A Times book of the yearA Guardian book of the year‘Magnificent’The Times‘Dazzling’ New Statesman‘It filled me with hope’ Zadie SmithWe are living in the era of the self, in an era of malleable truth and widespread personal and political delusion. In these nine interlinked essays, Jia Tolentino, the New Yorker’s brightest young talent, explores her own coming of age in this warped and confusing landscape. From the rise of the internet to her own appearance on an early reality TV show; from her experiences of ecstasy – both religious and chemical – to her uneasy engagement with our culture’s endless drive towards ‘self-optimisation’; from the phenomenon of the successful American scammer to her generation’s obsession with extravagant weddings, Jia Tolentino writes with style, humour and a fierce clarity about these strangest of times. Following in the footsteps of American luminaries such as Susan Sontag, Joan Didion and Rebecca Solnit, yet with a voice and vision all her own, Jia Tolentino writes with a rare gift for elucidating nuance and complexity, coupled with a disarming warmth. This debut collection of her essays announces her exactly the sort of voice we need to hear from right now – and for many years to come.

Trick Mirror

Celebrating 100 years of Agatha Christie stories, The Mysterious Affair at Styles is Hercule Poirot’s first case, performed on audio by Captain Hastings actor Hugh Fraser. ‘Beware! Peril to the detective who says: “It is so small – it does not matter…” Everything matters.’ After the Great War, life can never be the same again. Wounds need healing, and the horror of violent death banished into memory. Captain Arthur Hastings is invited to the rolling country estate of Styles to recuperate from injuries sustained at the Front. It is the last place he expects to encounter murder. Fortunately he knows a former detective, a Belgian refugee, who has grown bored of retirement… ‘Agatha Christie is the gateway drug to crime fiction thanks to her storytelling skills. Just one book is never enough…’ VAL McDERMID ‘What a writer. A hundred years after her first novel, and we are all still standing in her shadow.’ ANDREW TAYLOR ‘Agatha Christie must surely be the most imitated author in the entire canon of literature – what greater acclaim could there be?’ PETER JAMES

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Seventeen years after the events in Under Your Scars, Caroline makes her yearly visit to Meridian City and is taken on a heartbreaking and bittersweet journey that gives her something she's been searching for her entire life: closure. This is a sequel novella to Under Your Scars: A Dark Romance Novel, and the series must be read in order.

Under Your Scars

Delilah

In these tense, macabre stories, bodies fall from the sky, perfect nails conceal grisly secrets and violence pulses behind gleaming façades. From hellish visions to obsessive relationships, acclaimed author Agustina Bazterrica takes us to the dark heart of human desires and fears. Shocking, brutal, yet glinting with sharp humour, Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird is a breathtaking dive into human monstrousness from a master of contemporary horror.

Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird

Still in the formative years of his career, Hercule Poirot faces a most taxing case: who killed Lord Cronshaw? Was Coco Courtenay’s death on the same night a mere coincidence? And did she deliberately take an overdose of cocaine? No sooner has Poirot revealed his astonishing powers of deduction than he is faced with seventeen other mysteries to test his soon-to-be-famous ‘little grey cells’. As a matter of courtesy to a group of young people, he endeavours to solve the gruesome murder of a woman whose body they have stumbled upon whilst locked out of their flat, and with his usual precision and elan he discovers exactly how ‘Mary, Mary quite contrary’ makes her garden grow…

Poirot’s Early Cases

Brought to you by Penguin. *Audio narrated by Natasha Lunn, Roxane Gay, Greg Wise, Lemn Sissay, Juno Dawson, Melanie Reid, Stephen Grosz, Mira Jacob, Ayisha Malik, Sarah Hepola, Susan Quilliam, Emily Nagoski, Susie Orbach, Lucy Kalanithi, Isabela Laughland and Ricky Nixon* *THE TOP 10 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER* 'This book might just change your life' Sunday Times 'Wise, wonderful, moving and brilliant... will leave your heart in a much better place' Stylist After years of feeling that love was always out of reach, journalist Natasha Lunn set out to understand how relationships work and evolve over a lifetime. She turned to authors and experts to learn about their experiences, as well as drawing on her own, asking: How do we find love? How do we sustain it? And how do we survive when we lose it? In Conversations on Love she began to find the answers: Philippa Perry on falling in love slowly Dolly Alderton on vulnerability Stephen Grosz on accepting change Candice Carty-Williams on friendship Lisa Taddeo on the loneliness of loss Diana Evans on parenthood Emily Nagoski on the science of sex Alain de Botton on the psychology of being alone Esther Perel on unrealistic expectations Roxane Gay on redefining romance and many more... 'This book is a love letter to love in all its forms. It will make you see that love is truly the main point of life. To connect, to grow and to learn more deeply about ourselves through the people that populate the tapestry of our time here. Either for a reason, season or a lifetime." Daisy Edgar-Jones, star of Normal People 'A gorgeous, richly layered book about all forms of love. You can pick it up and turn to any page - literally any - and find a gem to soothe and fortify your soul' Pandora Sykes, Sunday Times bestselling author of 'How Do We Know We're Doing It Right?' 'Hopeful and uplifting... this deep dive into the human heart will expand and enrich your perspective on love' Evening Standard 'I underlined passages on almost every page of this wide-ranging, tender-hearted book' The Times, Books of the Year 'Uplifting... You'll laugh, cry and recommend it to your friends' Refinery29 'This eclectic and heartwarming collection explores love in all its forms, from romantic and parental love to friendship and loss' Observer 'Conversations on Love made me laugh, shed tears, think deeply. I want every person I love to read this book' Dr Kathryn Mannix, Sunday Times bestselling author of WITH THE END IN MIND © Natasha Lunn 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Conversations on Love

Oliver Sacks died in August 2015 at his home in Greenwich Village, surrounded by his close friends and family. He was 82. He spent his final days doing what he loved: playing the piano, swimming, enjoying smoked salmon – and writing . . . As Dr Sacks looked back over his long, adventurous life his final thoughts were of gratitude. In a series of remarkable, beautifully written and uplifting meditations, in Gratitude Dr Sacks reflects on and gives thanks for a life well lived, and expresses his thoughts on growing old, facing terminal cancer and reaching the end. I cannot pretend I am without fear. But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and travelled and thought and written. I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.

Gratitude

This is another volume of the successful Best Short Stories Collection, a selection of masterpieces by authors from various nationalities and with very diverse themes, but sharing an enormous and possibly the most important literary quality: providing pleasure to the reader. In this e-book, you will have access to the Best Foreign Short Stories, a selection of memorable tales written by great masters of international literature such as James Joyce, Julio Cortázar, Borges, Horacio Quiroga, Edgar Allan Poe, and others. It is a unique and unmissable work!

The World's Best Short Stories

A flawless collection of short stories that Christie herself referred to as ‘light-hearted thrillers’. Twelve ingenious, witty mysteries showing the author at her best, including: the curious disappearance of Lord Listerdale, the strange meeting on a train of a feckless man and a beautiful girl, Philomel Cottage and the extraordinary country house visit of Edward Robinson. Each four-story volume is expertly narrated by Hugh Fraser.

The Listerdale Mystery

From the brilliant pen of Agatha Christie comes the first novel in her Tommy and Tuppence mystery series featuring the beloved sleuthing duo—now a movie on both Acorn TV and PBS. Tommy and Tuppence are young, in love… and flat broke. Restless for excitement, they decide to embark on a daring business scheme: Young Adventurers Ltd.—""willing to do anything, go anywhere."" But they get more than they bargained for when their first assignment for the sinister Mr. Whittington draws them into a diabolical conspiracy. It isn’t long before they find themselves plunged into more danger than they ever could have imagined—a danger that could put an abrupt end to their business…and their lives.

Tommy & Tuppence Mysteries

The Secret Adversary

Combined into one volume, this is the definitive collection of Tolkien’s five acclaimed modern classic ‘fairie’ tales in the vein of The Hobbit, read by Derek Jacobi. The five tales are written with the same skill, quality and charm that made The Hobbit a classic. Largely overlooked because of their short lengths, they are finally together in a volume which reaffirms Tolkien's place as a master storyteller for readers young and old. Roverandom is a toy dog who, enchanted by a sand sorcerer, gets to explore the world and encounter strange and fabulous creatures.Farmer Giles of Ham is fat and unheroic, but – having unwittingly managed to scare off a short-sighted giant – is called upon to do battle when a dragon comes to town;The Adventures of Tom Bombadil tells in verse of Tom's many adventures with hobbits, princesses, dwarves and trolls;Leaf by Niggle recounts the strange adventures of the painter Niggle who sets out to paint the perfect tree;Smith of Wootton Major journeys to the Land of Faery thanks to the magical ingredients of the Great Cake of the Feast of Good Children.Taken together, this rich collection of tales from the author of The Children of Húrin will provide the reader with a fascinating journey into lands as wild and strange as Middle-earth.

Tales from the Perilous Realm

‘The best poet in America’ Jean Genet ‘He brought everybody down to earth, even the angels’ Leonard Cohen The definitive collection from a writer whose transgressive legacy and raw, funny, acutely observant writing has left an enduring mark Here is Bukowski eating walnuts and scratching his back, rolling a cigarette while listening to Brahms, showering with Linda in the mid-afternoon. Here is Bukowski knowing that the secret is beyond him, that people who never go crazy live truly horrible lives, that there’s a bluebird in his heart that wants to get out. Here is Bukowski at his most hilarious and heart-breaking, his most raw and profound; here is Bukowski at his best.

Essential Bukowski: Poetry

When your stepbrother is a hot hockey stud with more notches in his bedpost than, well anyone, he’s the perfect candidate to help you gain a little bedroom experience. At least, that's my plan this V-day.... Note: This is a hot and steamy, low-drama standalone short story. Contents include: One sweet but rough-around-the-edges hockey player who’s going a little crazy. One blunt, knows-what-she-wants heroine who picks through his self-defense. No cheating. No angst. No stress. And a sweet, melty HEA.

Hot Jocks

The Bedroom Experiment

“You will devour these beautifully written—and very important—tales of honesty, pain, and resilience” (Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of Eat Pray Love and City of Girls) from fifteen brilliant writers who explore how what we don’t talk about with our mothers affects us, for better or for worse. As an undergraduate, Michele Filgate started writing an essay about being abused by her stepfather. It took her more than a decade to realize that she was actually trying to write about how this affected her relationship with her mother. When it was finally published, the essay went viral, shared on social media by Anne Lamott, Rebecca Solnit, and many others. This gave Filgate an idea, and the resulting anthology offers a candid look at our relationships with our mothers. Leslie Jamison writes about trying to discover who her seemingly perfect mother was before ever becoming a mom. In Cathi Hanauer’s hilarious piece, she finally gets a chance to have a conversation with her mother that isn’t interrupted by her domineering (but lovable) father. André Aciman writes about what it was like to have a deaf mother. Melissa Febos uses mythology as a lens to look at her close-knit relationship with her psychotherapist mother. And Julianna Baggott talks about having a mom who tells her everything. As Filgate writes, “Our mothers are our first homes, and that’s why we’re always trying to return to them.” There’s relief in acknowledging how what we couldn’t say for so long is a way to heal our relationships with others and, perhaps most important, with ourselves. Contributions by Cathi Hanauer, Melissa Febos, Alexander Chee, Dylan Landis, Bernice L. McFadden, Julianna Baggott, Lynn Steger Strong, Kiese Laymon, Carmen Maria Machado, André Aciman, Sari Botton, Nayomi Munaweera, Brandon Taylor, and Leslie Jamison.

What My Mother and I Don't Talk About

Chosen as one of the ‘best new book releases’ by COSMOPOLITAN A ‘best summer read’ by ELLE MAGAZINE When you look at a woman, who do you see? “Every aspect of her body or personality was up for inspection: too big, too small, too available, too hidden, too much, not enough.” A wedding day brings back memories of sisterhood and betrayals; a motorway service station is the site of explosive violence, but also strange bonds; a trip home forces a reminder of a life-changing, lost friendship; a woman confronts her own infidelity; an artist celebrates a life spent in observation. This debut collection movingly explores how women and girls are looked at, look at one another, and look at themselves, and how living as an object can shape their passions, fears, and joys. With a clear eye and dark humour, Danielle Pender considers sex, parenting, grief and class as lenses for the ways in which the world watches women — and how women are always watching back.

Watching Women & Girls

THIS SKIN WAS ONCE MINE When her father dies under mysterious circumstances, Jillian Finch finds herself grieving the man she idolized while struggling to feel comfortable in the childhood home she was sent away from nearly twenty years ago. Then Jillian discovers a dark secret that will threaten to undo everything she has ever known about her father. SEEDLING A young man’s father calls him early in the morning to say that his mother has passed away. He arrives home to find his mother’s body still in the house. Struggling to process what has happened he notices a small black wound appear on his wrist. Then he discovers his father is cursed with the same affliction. ALL THE PARTS OF YOU THAT WON’T EASILY BURN Enoch Leadbetter goes to buy a knife for his husband to use at a forthcoming dinner party. He encounters a strange shopkeeper who draws him into an intoxicating new obsession and sets him on a path towards mutilation and destruction... PRICKLE Two old men revive a cruel game with devastating consequences...

This Skin Was Once Mine

Have you ever seen something that wasn't really there? Heard someone call your name in an empty house? Sensed someone following you and turned around to find nothing? Hallucinations don't belong wholly to the insane. Much more commonly, they are linked to sensory deprivation, intoxication, illness, or injury. In some conditions, hallucinations can lead to religious epiphanies or even the feeling of leaving one's own body. Humans have always sought such life-changing visions, and for thousands of years have used hallucinogenic compounds to achieve them. In Hallucinations, with his usual elegance, curiosity, and compassion, Dr Oliver Sacks weaves together stories of his patients and of his own mind-altering experiences to illuminate what hallucinations tell us about the organization and structure of our brains, how they have influenced every culture's folklore and art, and why the potential for hallucination is present in us all, a vital part of the human condition.

Hallucinations

'A beautiful book: funny, honest, revealing, heartfelt and moving' - Adam Kay, bestselling author of This is Going to Hurt' 'Vital, heartfelt and surprising, these tales from a life are told with humour, style and intelligence.' - Graham Norton 'A wonderful memoir by a glorious writer: funny, poignant, profound. I gobbled it up in one joyous sitting.' - Elizabeth Day 'An absolute jewel of a book. Gloriously readable, hilarious, painful, acute, sharply recalled and vividly brought to life' - Stephen Fry A dazzling 'tell-most' memoir: poignant and laugh-out-loud funny scenes from the life of actor Minnie Driver. I love stories. I have mostly told other people's but now, in telling my own, I realize how all our stories are connected by that great leveller of acclaim, loss, fortitude, and fortune: being human. When I look at my life from the alleged halfway point, some patterns are revealed: one, that the story does not necessarily begin or end where it should; two, happy endings are overrated. And three, happy endings are almost never the end. This book is memoir-ish. A tell-most. Largely because there's a lot I don't remember, and a lot that's not worth talking about. So, this is a collection of stories about how things not working out - worked out in the end. How reaching for the dream is easily more interesting, expansive, sad and funny than the dream itself coming true. I really hope you enjoy it. Love, Minnie x

Managing Expectations

""This book re-framed my entire adolescence. I highly recommend you read it."" — LING MA From the critically acclaimed author of Dead Girls (“stylish and inspired”—New York Times Book Review), a sharp, engrossing collection of essays that explore the strange career of popular feminism and steady creep of cults and cult-think into our daily lives. In seven stunning original essays, Alice Bolin turns her gaze to the myriad ways femininity is remixed and reconstructed by the pop culture of the computer age. The unlikely, often insidious forces that drive our popular obsessions are brilliantly cataloged, contextualized, and questioned in a kaleidoscopic style imitating the internet itself. In “The Enumerated Woman,” Bolin investigates how digital diet tracking apps have increasingly transformed our relationships to our bodies. Animal Crossing’s soothing retail therapy is analyzed in “Real Time”—a surprisingly powerful portrait of late capitalism. And in the showstopping “Foundering,” Bolin dissects our buy-in and complicity with mythmaking around iconic founders, from the hubristic fall of Silicon Valley titans, to Enron, Hamilton, and the USA. For readers of Trick Mirror and How to Do Nothing, Culture Creep is a swirl of nostalgia and visions of the future, questioning why, in the face of seismic cultural, political, and technological shifts as disruptive as the internet, we cling to the icons and ideals of the past. Written with her signature blend of the personal and sharply analytical, each of these keen-eyed essays ask us to reckon with our own participation in all manner of popular cults of being, and cults of believing.

Culture Creep

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Short Stories

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