Bloomsbury Publishing strana 12 z 87

So, then. You want a story and I will tell you one...Afghanistan, 1952. Abdullah and his sister Pari live with their father and stepmother in the small village of Shadbagh. Their father, Saboor, is constantly in search of work and they struggle together through poverty and brutal winters. To Abdullah, Pari - as beautiful and sweet-natured as the fairy for which she was named - is everything. More like a parent than a brother, Abdullah will do anything for her, even trading his only pair of shoes for a feather for her treasured collection. Each night they sleep together in their cot, their heads touching, their limbs tangled. One day the siblings journey across the desert to Kabul with their father. Pari and Abdullah have no sense of the fate that awaits them there, for the event which unfolds will tear their lives apart; sometimes a finger must be cut to save the hand. Crossing generations and continents, moving from Kabul, to Paris, to San Francisco, to the Greek island of Tinos, with profound wisdom, depth, insight and compassion, Khaled Hosseini writes about the bonds that define us and shape our lives, the ways in which we help our loved ones in need, how the choices we make resonate through history and how we are often surprised by the people closest to us.

Novelist Guy Ableman is in thrall to his vivacious wife Vanessa, a strikingly beautiful red-head, contrary, highly strung and blazingly angry. The trouble is, he is no less in thrall to her alluring mother, Poppy. More like sisters than mother and daughter, they come as a pair, a blistering presence that destroys Guy's peace of mind, suggesting the wildest stories but making it impossible for him to concentrate long enough to write any of them. Not that anyone reads Guy, anyway. Not that anyone is reading anything. Reading, Guy fears, is finished. His publisher, fearing the same, has committed suicide. His agent, like all agents, is in hiding. Vanessa, in the meantime, is writing a novel of her own. Guy doesn't expect her to finish it, or even start it, but he dreads the consequences if she does. In flight from personal disappointment and universal despair, Guy wonders if it's time to take his love for Poppy to another level. Fiction might be dead, but desire isn't. And out of that desire he imagines squeezing one more great book. By turns angry, elegiac and rude, Zoo Time is a novel about love - love of women, love of literature, love of laughter. It shows our funniest writer at his brilliant best.

First staged in 1903, the Tour de France lasts three weeks every July and takes its c.200 competitors through over 3600km of varied terrain, including testing mountain stages. The race is broken into one-day 'stages', with the overall leader wearing the fabled yellow jersey. Tour de France 100 celebrates 110 years of the Tour and publishes in the run up to the 100th race. It captures key visual moments in its history, including heroes of the race, great rivalries, moments of high drama, accidents and scandals, all accompanied by Richard Moore's authoritative text that illuminates and expands upon the superb imagery.

Over the past fifteen thousand years the Earth has witnessed dramatic changes in sea level. The last Ice Age, when coastlines were more than 700 feet below modern levels, saw rapid global warming, and over the following ten millennia, the oceans climbed in fits and starts. These changes had little impact on the humans of the day, because the earth's population was then so small, and those few people were more mobile than today's static populations. Global sea levels stabilised about five thousand years ago. As urban civilisations developed in Egypt, Mesopotamia and South Asia the curve of inexorably rising seas flattened out. The planet's population boomed, and by the Industrial Revolution was five times its size two thousand years earlier. And as we crowded shorelines to live, fish and trade, we put ourselves at ever greater risk from the oceans. Changes in sea level are historically cumulative and gradual, but since 1860, the world has warmed significantly and the ocean's climb has accelerated again. From the Great Flood to Hurricane Sandy, The Attacking Ocean explores the changing complexity of the relationship between humans and the sea at their doorsteps, and shows how vulnerable our modern society is.

Odd's luck has been bad so far. He lost his father on a Viking expedition, his foot was crushed beneath a tree, and the winter seems to be going on for ever. But when Odd flees to the woods and releases a trapped bear, his luck begins to change. The eagle, bear and fox he encounters reveal they're actually Norse gods, trapped in animal form by the evil frost giants who have conquered Asgard, the city of the gods...Can a twelve-year-old boy reclaim Thor's hammer, outwit the frost giants and release the gods? With Neil Gaiman's wit and style, this story transcends the everyday and becomes a humorous, rich and layered tale of a life lived courageously.

In this collection of wonderful stories, which range between fantasy, humour, science fiction and a sprinkling of horror, the reader will relish the range and skill of Neil Gaiman's writing. Be prepared to laugh at the detective story about Humpty Dumpty's demise, spooked by the sinister jack-in -the-box who haunts the lives of the children who own it, and intrigued by the boy who is raised by ghosts in a graveyard in this collection of bite-sized narrative pleasures.

An alphabet book with a story about two children and their pet gazelle who head off, treasure map in hand, on an underground journey into a place where monsters and pirates roam. Will they find the treasure? Will they get out alive? Will the alphabet ever be the same again?

When Lucy hears noises from behind the wall she tries to warn her parents that there are wolves banging about. But her parents don't listen. When the wolves finally take over the house and Lucy and her family are evicted to live in the garden, her parents realise perhaps they should have listened. But Lucy is no shrinking violet and pretty soon she has the wolves out and the family back in the house. So what was that noise Lucy heard coming from behind the wall? This is a brilliant, witty and inventive picture book with cutting-edge art, which is sure to be a hit with existing fans of Neil Gaiman as well as young readers.

Neil Gaiman wrote "Blueberry Girl" for a friend who was about to become the mother of a little girl. He has turned the deeply personal wish for a daughter into a book that celebrates the glory of growing up. Illustrated throughout with gorgeous art by Charles Vess, whose work can also be seen in Susanna Clarke's "The Ladies of Grace Adieu".

From the Sack to the Sari, each dress makes a powerful statement about the woman who wears it. Inspired by the Eleanor Estes' children's classic The Hundred Dresses, Erin McKean's classic-to-be by the same title, with chic illustrations by Donna Mehalko, is a definitive and witty look at what one hundred iconic dress styles, vintage and modern say about their wearers. Each beautifully illustrated entry looks at the history of that particular style, famous wearers (if applicable), possible accessories, where the style could be observed, and what message, subtle or overt, is conveyed by the dress. Featured are The Wench; The Vreeland; The Wrap; The Austen; The Beckham; The Siren (any style, as long as it's red); The Chanel Ingenue; The Caftan; The Guinevere; The Jackie;; The Biohazard (any dress dangerous to bystanders or the wearer: think Lady Gaga); and many more. Part style commentary, part fashion blueprint, part clever field guide, The Hundred Dresses will ensure that no woman (or man) ever underestimates the power of the dress.

Chickens are a fantastic addition to a garden or outdoors space - you don't have to live in the back of beyond to have a few clucking around and giving you fresh eggs. They come in all shapes and sizes: some are layers, some are just born to strut. Mark Diacono begins at the basics, showing how you can raise chickens from eggs, and look after them once they start laying their own. The first part of Chicken & Eggs explains how to think ahead about what kind of chickens you want and how many to get, whether you are going for a breed that lays eggs regularly, or that you might eventually use for eating, or that simply looks decorative. You can choose from Orpingtons, Derbyshire redcaps, Muffed Old English Game, Leghorns and many more. Mark then goes on to show how you can breed chickens, encourage them to lay, work out what kind of eggs you have (are they destined for the eggcup, or will they hatch into baby chicks?), and take care of them day to day, as well as how you can go about getting the birds on the table. The final part of the book is a recipe section that goes far beyond the roast, with lots of delicious ideas for fresh eggs or home-reared chicken. With an introduction by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, this is an essential guide for anyone who can't stop thinking about chicks.

A highly collectable hardback boxed set from the world of Harry Potter - containing handsome new editions of Quidditch Through the Ages, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (both in hardback for the first time) and The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The Hogwarts Library is an essential collection for any wizard or Muggle home. Eager seekers of wizard learning will find within a treasure trove of magical facts, additional notes from the esteemed Professor Albus Dumbledore, and illustrations from J.K. Rowling. Purchasers can be reassured that two charities important to J.K. Rowling - Comic Relief and Lumos - will benefit from the sale of each set. These editions are exclusively available in this boxed set.

Do you want to be more successful at work? Do you want to improve your chances of promotion? Do you want to get on better with your colleagues? Daniel Goleman draws on unparalleled access to business leaders around the world and the thorough research that is his trademark. He demonstrates that emotional intelligence at work matters twice as much as cognitive abilities such as IQ or technical expertise in this inspiring sequel.

Idiomantics is a unique exploration of the world of idiomatic phrases. The very etymology of the word 'idiom' reveals what's so endlessly fascinating about the wide range of colourful phrases we use in everyday speech: their peculiarity. They're peculiar both in the sense of being particular or unique to the culture from which they originate, and in the sense of being downright odd. To cite three random examples - from American English, Dutch and Italian - what on Earth are a snow job, a monkey sandwich story, and Mr Punch's secret? Fascinating and illuminating, Idiomantics explains all...The ideal gift for word buffs and in fact, anyone who enjoys a good yarn, this playful book looks at 12 groups of idioms around the world, looking at subjects such as fun and games, gastronomic delights and the daily grind.

This beautifully-illustrated and engrossing biography of the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo reveals a woman of extreme magnetism and originality and an artist whose sensual vibrancy came straight from her own experiences. Born and brought up near Mexico City during the Mexican Revolution, she suffered a devastating accident aged eighteen, which left her crippled and unable to bear children. Her marriage to the muralist Diego Riviera was tempestuous, and she had many love affairs with men as diverse as Isamu Noguchi and Leon Trotsky. Absorbed in Mexican folklore and culture and a lover of dramatic spectacle, Kahlo's tumultuous life is that of an extraordinary twentieth-century woman.

When a boy swaps his dad for two goldfish he does not really think through the consequences! After all, he is not the only person who can swap stuff. When the boy is told by his mother that he has to get his father back it is not so easily done. It seems that the father has a pretty high value as he has been traded by one child to the next leaving a trail that the son has to follow. Where will it all end?