Chatto & Windus

Perhaps one reason not enough people kill billionaires is it's actually quite tricky... When her home is destroyed in wildfires, fourteen-year-old Australian outback genius Kayla Connolly decides to hunt down the culprits of climate change: billionaires. She teams up with Mr P, a giant ex-soldier from Tuvalu whose home is being flooded by rising sea levels. Together, they find ingenious ways to kill a property developer building on protected wetlands and a mining company CEO poisoning the earth with toxic chemicals. They also find an unexpected ally in Nancy, a wealthy elderly woman with a shocking past. The trio's mission soon develops a life of its own, taking them first to California to crack billionaire tech bros and then to London for superrich oil executives, spawning a global movement along the way. In pursuit are the FBI and Detective Sergeant Kate Anderson of Scotland Yard, but Kate is having doubts about whether Kayla is even in the wrong. Will Kayla be able to stay ahead of the game and pull off one final, remarkable hit?

Crafted over twenty-five years, I Want to Talk to You invites you into a conversation about literature, art and music, identity, grief and everything in between. As a young journalist, Diana Evans was catapulted overnight into the role of culture editor, going on to interview a roster of stars including Lauryn Hill, Viola Davis, Alice Walker and Edward Enninful. In these portraits of contemporary icons, the author remains the observer. Alongside them, in pieces collected here for the first time, we also see her turning the lens on herself. We watch as she dances on stages in London and travels through Cuba. We sit beside her desk as she develops her voice as a writer, shaped by her love for Jean Rhys, James Baldwin and Toni Morrison. We walk by her side as she navigates the world – her family and the midlife sandwich, reflections on fashion, yoga, the British monarchy and lockdowns, and the lasting impact of George Floyd and Grenfell.

How can we communicate when things are so painful? How can we connect when generational differences are extreme? How do parents and teenagers - and all of us - have real conversations? When Rowan was sixteen, she only tolerated communication from her mother in the form of Snapchat. Desperate to be closer to her daughter, Christie sent daily selfies of her face superimposed onto a chicken nugget. It took serious illness for them to finally talk – and truly listen. Rowan's mental health struggles revealed the chasm between their generations. They started being more honest with each other than they had ever been before: discussing identity, race, gender and neurodivergence; opening up about disordered eating and self-harm; navigating the perils of social media. In an age of polarisation, this is how a mother and daughter find humour in the things that divide them and become more hopeful about the future of our world. A book for all parents and teenagers going through a tough time, for friends, grandparents, teachers and healthcare professionals who want to help, its bare honesty will have you laughing – and possibly crying – out loud as it shows that you are not alone.

An extraordinary career-spanning collection from one of the most revered poets and storytellers of our age Tracing the legacy of Margaret Atwood – a writer who has fundamentally shaped our contemporary literary landscapes – Paper Boat assembles Atwood’s most vital poems in one essential volume. In pieces that are at once brilliant, beautiful and hyper-imagined, Atwood gives voices to remarkably drawn characters – mythological figures, animals and everyday people – all of whom have something to say about what it means to live in a world as strange as our own. ‘How can one live with such a heart?’ Atwood asks, casting her singular spell upon the reader, and ferrying us through life, death and whatever comes next. Walking the tightrope between reality and fantasy as only she can, Atwood’s journey through poetry illuminates our most innate joys and sorrows, desires and fears. Spanning six decades of work – from her earliest beginnings to brand new poems – this volume charts the evolution of one of our most iconic and necessary authors.

The remarkable true story of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, and the two men in war-torn Japan whose lives he changed forever. On the 14th of August 1941, a Polish priest named Maximilian Maria Kolbe was murdered in Auschwitz. Kolbe's life had been remarkable. Fiercely intelligent and driven, he founded a movement of Catholicism and spent several years in Nagasaki, ministering to the 'hidden Christians' who had emerged after centuries of oppression. A Polish nationalist as well as a priest, he gave sanctuary to fleeing refugees and ran Poland's largest publishing operation, drawing the wrath of the Nazis. His death was no less remarkable: he volunteered to die, saving the life of a fellow prisoner. It was an act that profoundly transformed the lives of two Japanese men. Tomei Ozaki was just seventeen when the US dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, destroying his home and his family. Masatoshi Asari worked on a farm in Hokkaido during the war and was haunted by the inhumane treatment of prisoners in a nearby camp. Forged in the crucible of an unforgiving war, both men drew inspiration from Kolbe's sacrifice, dedicating their lives to humanity and justice. Ozaki followed in his footsteps and became a friar. Asari created cherry trees as peace offerings. In The Martyr and the Red Kimono, award-winning author Naoko Abe weaves together a deeply moving and inspirational true story of resistance, sacrifice, guilt and atonement.

'Your job is to bind the books, not read them.' When the men of Oxford University Press leave for the Western Front, Peggy, her twin sister Maude and their friends in the bookbindery must shoulder the burden at home. As Peggy moves between her narrowboat full of memories and the demands of the Press, her dreams of studying feel ever more remote. She must know her place, fold her pages and never stop to savour the precious words in front of her. From volunteer nurses to refugees fleeing the horrors of occupation, the war brings women together from all walks of life, and with them some difficult choices for Peggy. New friends and lovers offer new opportunities, but they also make new demands - and Peggy must write her own story.

If you are reading this, it's likely you already have some affinity with humanism, even if you don't think of yourself in those terms. You may be drawn to literature and the humanities. You may prefer to base your moral choices on fellow-feeling and responsibility to others rather than on religious commandments. Or you may simply believe that individual lives are more important than grand political visions or dogmas. If any of these apply, you are part of a long tradition of humanist thought, and you share that tradition with many extraordinary individuals through history who have put rational enquiry, cultural richness, freedom of thought and a sense of hope at the heart of their lives. Humanly Possible introduces us to some of these people, as it asks what humanism is and why it has flourished for so long, despite opposition from fanatics, mystics and tyrants. It is a book brimming with ideas, personalities and experiments in living - from Erasmus to Esperanto, from anatomists to agnostics, from Christine de Pizan to Bertrand Russell to Zora Neale Hurston. It joyfully celebrates open-mindedness, optimism, freedom and the power of the here and now - humanist values which have helped steer us through dark times in the past, and which are just as urgently needed in our world today.

An elegantly jubilant and personal new collection celebrating love, life and creativity from award-winning poet and Booker Prize-shortlisted novelist, John Fuller In this personal and characteristically brilliant new collection from John Fuller, an abundance of memories abound. From "those once endless years" of a childhood in wartime - tasting of Granny's chicken soup, twizzers and cherry-go-rips - to the pattern of family and friendships, important milestones are brought to vivid life. In 'Before We Met - and After' a sequence of recollections cherish a wife on her eightieth birthday; 'In Whose Head' a piece by Schumann is revisited through advancing years; and in 'Keeper of the Fire' and 'In Memory of John Bayley' late poems of remembrance memorialise lost friends. These are poems of being and time, full of lyric feeling and Fuller's distinctive wit and lightness of touch. Alive with the clang and sway of the "chosen colours of daily family life", together they form a resonant gathering of poems that celebrate, with thoughtfulness and joy, "the feel and length of our lives".

The collection of a lifetime from the bestselling novelist, poet -- and cultural phenomenon Before she became one of the world's most important and loved novelists, Margaret Atwood was a poet. Dearly is her first collection in over a decade. It brings together many of her most recognisable and celebrated themes, but distilled -- from minutely perfect descriptions of the natural world to startlingly witty encounters with aliens, from pressing political issues to myth and legend. By turns moving, playful and wise, the poems gathered in Dearly are about absences and endings, ageing and retrospection, but also about gifts and renewals. They explore bodies and minds in flux, as well as the everyday objects and rituals that embed us in the present. Werewolves, sirens and dreams make their appearance, as do various forms of animal life and fragments of our damaged environment. Dearly is a pure Atwood delight, and long-term readers and new fans alike will treasure its insight, empathy and humour.

'Food, for me, is a constant pleasure: I like to think greedily about it, reflect deeply on it, learn from it; it provides comfort, inspiration, meaning and beauty... More than just a mantra, "cook, eat, repeat" is the story of my life.' OVER 150 DELICIOUS NEW RECIPES, AS FEATURED IN GUARDIAN WEEKEND MAGAZINE NEW TV SERIES, COOK, EAT, REPEAT, COMES TO BBC TWO THIS AUTUMN Cook, Eat, Repeat is a delicious and delightful combination of recipes intertwined with narrative essays about food, all written in Nigella's engaging and insightful prose. Whether asking 'What is a Recipe?' or declaring death to the Guilty Pleasure, Nigella's wisdom about food and life comes to the fore, with tasty new recipes that readers will want to return to again and again. 'The recipes I write come from my life, my home', says Nigella, and in this book she shares the rhythms and rituals of her kitchen through over 150 new recipes that make the most of her favourite ingredients. Dedicated chapters include 'A is for Anchovy' (a celebration of the bacon of the sea), 'Rhubarb', 'A Loving Defence of Brown Food', a suitably expansive chapter devoted to family dinners, plus inspiration for vegan feasts, solo suppers and new ideas for Christmas. Within these chapters are recipes for all seasons and tastes: Burnt Onion and Aubergine Dip; Butternut with Beetroot, Chilli and Ginger Sauce; Brown Butter Colcannon; Spaghetti with Chard and Anchovies; Chicken with Garlic Cream Sauce; Beef Cheeks with Port and Chestnuts; and Wide Noodles with Lamb in Aromatic Broth, to name a few. Those with a sweet tooth will delight in Rhubarb and Custard Trifle; Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake; Rice Pudding Cake; and Cherry and Almond Crumble.

A vital and timely book about inspirational nurses, and the bravery of patients and families, from the bestselling author of The Language of Kindness. Nurses have never been more important. We benefit from their expertise in our hospitals and beyond: in our schools, on our streets, in prisons, hospices and care homes. When we feel most alone, nurses remind us that we are not alone at all. In The Courage to Care bestselling author Christie Watson reveals the remarkable extent of nurses' work. A community mental-health nurse choreographs support for a man suffering from severe depression. A teen with stab wounds is treated by the critical-care team; his school nurse visits and he drops the bravado. A pregnant woman loses frightening amounts of blood following a car accident; it is a military nurse who synchronises the emergency department into immaculate order and focus. Christie makes a further discovery: that, time and again, it is patients and their families - including her own - who show exceptional strength in the most challenging times. We are all deserving of compassion, and as we share in each other's suffering, Christie Watson shows us how we can find courage too. The courage to care. Praise for Christie Watson:'Let's be thankful for wonderful nurses - and writers - like Christie Watson' Jacqueline Wilson'Christie Watson is a remarkable writer turning her attention to a crucially important conversation' Nathan Filer'Christie Watson writes with the fullness of her heart to give us insight into the world of patients and nursing, inspiring us to recognise it is how we treat people, how we speak and respond to them, as well as what we do, that heals' Julia Samuel

She was 'The Angel of the Baths', the one woman whose touch everybody yearned for. Yet she would do more. She was certain of that. In the city of Bath, in the year 1865, an extraordinary young woman renowned for her nursing skills is convinced that some other destiny will one day show itself to her. But when she finds herself torn between a dangerous affair with a female lover and the promise of a conventional marriage to an apparently respectable doctor, her desires begin to lead her towards a future she had never imagined. Meanwhile, on the wild island of Borneo, an eccentric British 'rajah', Sir Ralph Savage, overflowing with philanthropy but compromised by his passions, sees his schemes relentlessly undermined by his own fragility, by man's innate greed and by the invasive power of the forest itself. Jane's quest for an altered life and Sir Ralph's endeavours become locked together as the story journeys across the globe - from the confines of an English tearoom to the rainforests of a tropical island via the slums of Dublin and the transgressive fancy-dress boutiques of Paris. Islands of Mercy is a novel that ignites the senses, and is a bold exploration of the human urge to seek places of sanctuary in a pitiless world.

Marisa Meltzer was put on her first diet aged five: it was the beginning of a fraught relationship with food. Jean Nidetch was a housewife from Queens who defiantly lost 70 pounds after she was mistaken for being pregnant. Taking everything she learned from this experience, in 1963 she founded Weight Watchers, a company that has shaped decades of diet culture. When Marisa reads Jean's obituary, she feels a moment of intense connection. Curious about the woman and her legacy, she signs up for a year of Weight Watchers; counting points, weighing in and listening to her fellow members struggle with their bodies. This is Big is a biography of an idiosyncratic entrepreneur whose impact is still felt strongly today. It is a history of dieting and body politics for anyone who has agonised over their weight or defiantly tried not to do so. And it is Marisa's funny and thoughtful journey towards a different way to live in the world.

From the bestselling author of A Spool of Blue Thread: an offbeat love story about mis-steps, second chances and the elusive art of human connection Micah Mortimer isn't the most polished person you'll ever meet. His numerous sisters and in-laws regard him oddly but very fondly, but he has his ways and means of navigating the world. He measures out his days running errands for work - his TECH HERMIT sign cheerily displayed on the roof of his car - maintaining an impeccable cleaning regime and going for runs (7:15, every morning). He is content with the steady balance of his life. But then the order of things starts to tilt. His woman friend Cassia (he refuses to call anyone in her late thirties a 'girlfriend') tells him she's facing eviction because of a cat. And when a teenager shows up at Micah's door claiming to be his son, Micah is confronted with another surprise he seems poorly equipped to handle. Redhead by the Side of the Road is an intimate look into the heart and mind of a man who sometimes finds those around him just out of reach - and a love story about the differences that make us all unique.

We will spend up to 120,000 hours at work in our lifetimes. But how best to use those hours is one of our most challenging questions. We all want to find meaning at work, but our managers can't get it for us. And as companies work to be more nimble and shift according to changing markets, the workplace is increasingly unpredictable. It's up to each of us to define and find our own happiness in this ever-moving landscape, which is rich with opportunity and possibility. Designing Your Work Life helps you understand the politics and psychology of work and equips you with the 'design thinking' principles - the innovative methodology pioneered at Stanford that has been fuelling the growth of Silicon Valley - to build a working life that works for you. Designers don't analyse, worry, think, complain their way forward; they build their way forward. Perfect for anyone hoping to improve their current job, aiming for a promotion or even switching career paths, as well as recent graduates thinking about their future, Designing Your Work Life is a deeply empowering read. Part business book, part inspirational and innovative self-help, this book will help you answer one of life's most challenging questions.

"& colin kaepernick is my president, who kneels on the airbent toward a branch, throwing apples down to the children & vets& rihanna is my president, walking out of global summitswith wine glass in hand, our taxes returned in goldto dust our faces into coins& my mama is my president, her grace stuntson amazing, brown hands breaking brown bread overmouths of the hungry until there are none unfed & my grandma is my president & her cabinet is her cabinetcause she knows to trust what the pan knowshow the skillet wins the war" -from 'my president'Danez Smith is our President. A mighty anthem about the saving grace of friendship, Danez Smith's highly anticipated collection Homie is rooted in their search for joy and intimacy in a time where both are scarce. In poems of rare power and generosity, Smith acknowledges that in a country overrun by violence, xenophobia and disparity, and in a body defined by race, queerness, and diagnosis, it can be hard to survive, even harder to remember reasons for living. But then the phone lights up, or a shout comes up to the window, and family - blood and chosen - arrives with just the right food and some redemption. Part friendship diary, part bright elegy, part war cry, Homie is written for friends: for Danez's friends, for yours.