Icon Books strana 4 z 9

''Harpy is a tonic; a tongue-in-cheek manual for dealing with Spanish Inquisition-style questioning about saying pass to procreation and building an enriching life beyond the nuclear family'' VOGUE''Harpy made me nod in recognition, and shake my head with sorrow, and then it made me laugh out loud'' EMILIE PINE, author of NOTES TO SELF and RUTH & PEN''Defiant, funny and inspiring'' SEÁN HEWITT, author of ALL DOWN DARKNESS WIDEEach generation has more childfree women than the one before. For many, it is an active decision made for a wide range of reasons. Despite this growing trend, we continue to live in a society where women are often judged for deciding to remain childfree - for not conforming to narrow expectations. For being a Harpy.In this timely and thoughtful book, Caroline Magennis looks beyond the often-divisive conversation around women who choose to be childfree and offers an alternative message of hope and celebration. With humour and intelligence, she explores why motherhood isn''t right for everybody and how any woman - whether a parent or childfree - can live a full life, while also reminding the reader that your freedoms and the right to autonomy should never be taken for granted.

''BOOK EVERY YOUNG WOMAN SHOULD READ'' Daily Mail''BOLD AND THOUGHT-PROVOKING'' GlamourAs heard on BBC Radio 4''s Woman''s HourA Stylist pick of the best non-fiction for 2024A Cosmopolitan and Glamour best new book for April 2024TEN MEN, MANY STORIES.At the beginning of the year, Kitty Ruskin decided it was time to embrace her sexuality, taking advantage of all the joys that being young, free and single bring and having fun, easy, no-strings sex with whomsoever she desired.She got on the apps and started swiping. What followed was sometimes sexy, frequently funny, occasionally shocking and, sadly, all too often fraught with pain and danger. It was not the carefree adventure she had envisaged; it was something altogether darker.Ten Men is one woman''s tale told with searing honesty. It''s an exploration of the ''blurred lines'' that even seemingly nice guys can exploit, a meditation on the lack of clarity around consent and a call to arms to combat a culture that seems to thrive on women''s vulnerability.

When Maiwand Banayee was 16, he wanted to become a suicide bomber for the Taliban.In this inspiring tale of survival and self-discovery, the reader will follow Maiwand''s journey down a dark path and his ultimate redemption. Growing up in Kabul amid the Afghan wars, he witnessed atrocities that no child should ever see - rotting corpses, starving families, a neighbourhood torn apart. He escaped to a refugee camp in Pakistan, where religious militants began the gradual grooming of Maiwand and other Afghan boys. These confused and traumatised children were indoctrinated, radicalised and prepared to die in the name of a religious war. But Maiwand escaped this life. Fleeing Afghanistan, he had a life-altering crisis of faith, confidence and meaning, finding new purpose and rebuilding himself.Maiwand taught himself how to read and write in English, and here tells his astonishing story in crystalline prose. Delusions of Paradise offers a powerful warning about the dangers of radical religion, and is a stunning celebration of self-determination and redemption from an important new voice.

The incredible story of a 3,500-mile cycle ride to explore the onshore and offshore lighthouses around the coastline of England and Wales, proving that a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis doesn''t mean giving up on a lifelong dream.The Beacon Bike is the inspirational tale of one man''s quest to fulfil the promise he made to himself as a small child, nestled in the bed of an attic room while the glow of Dungeness lighthouse flashed past his window - a comforting, ever-present companion. It is also a loving tribute to the coast; not only its beautiful landscape, but also the communities that make it so special. It celebrates the generosity of spirit found in people around the country, as well as the history of the iconic lights that brighten their world.This journey is a testament to the joy of life''s simple pleasures. A warm welcome at the end of a long day. The fire of a child''s imagination, rekindled in later life. The power of a light that pierces the darkness.

A warm, reflective and uplifting memoir about healing wounds, reclaiming a voice and discovering freedom through the open water.The open water. To the uninitiated, it represents the unknown, an expanse of mystery and uncertainty. But to those who brave the wild waters, it is so much more. A space to heal. A place of communion. A balm to quieten the mind, soothe the soul, and allow you to reconnect with the world and yourself.Emma Simpson discovered wild swimming after a period of immense pain. Lost in grief, disillusioned with life, and feeling increasingly untethered from the world, she instinctively felt the pull of the water. There she found an unexpected source of hope and strength, a profound sense of connection, and a glorious sisterhood of women - each with their own remarkable stories to tell. Interweaving the tales of these inspirational women with reflections on her own experiences, Emma explores themes ranging from devastating loss to birth and rebirth, and from chronic illness to body confidence. Whether describing the taste of an iceberg or a kiss from a baby whale, Breaking Waves is a love letter to womanhood and the open water. It''s also a celebration of community, renewal and the power of writing your own life story. Above all else, it is a joyous celebration of going with the flow.

Can Jews be allowed to become boring?With Israel and antisemitism constantly in the news, it seems as though the Jewish people - a fraction of a percentage of the world''s population - have become synonymous with controversy, drama and anxiety. But what if there was another side to this persistently interesting people; one that non-Jews often don''t know about and Jews rarely talk about? This is the stuff of ''everyday'' Jewishness; the capacity to be ordinary, mundane and sometimes just plain dull.Keith Kahn-Harris lifts the lid on this surprising world in a book for Jews and non-Jews alike. Arguing that his people''s extraordinary public visibility today is harming the their ability to live everyday Jewish lives, he celebrates the mundanity and mediocrity of a people before it vanishes completely.

Northern Ireland, 1975. Violence has erupted on the streets of Belfast. After years as a sleepy guerilla army, the IRA is clashing with Loyalist gangs and heavily armed British soldiers. But the Troubles have spilled beyond the small island: An ocean away, in the heart of Philadelphia''s Irish enclave, a teenage girl finds a letter in her mailbox. Inside is a bullet, and the message is clear: The next one is for you. From New York Times reporter and Pulitzer finalist Ali Watkins, this true-crime saga is the long-buried story of how a group of Philadelphia gunrunners armed the IRA at the height of the Troubles. A ragtag band of carpenters, family men and fugitives, the Philadelphia Five, as they came to be known, banded together, bolstering the fight for a united Ireland but fuelling the Troubles at an untold cost. This small group of Irish nationalists smuggled hundreds of rifles, rocket launchers, explosives and armour-piercing bullets across the Atlantic Ocean and into Northern Ireland. Whether they were skimming money from innocuous-seeming charities, coolly slipping weapons into hidden compartments of vans and houses, or scouring local graveyards for the names of dead Irishmen to use on firearm forms, the gunrunners approached their mission - to unite Ireland under one flag, by any means necessary - with ruthless poise, even as investigators closed in, members of their own movement began to turn on them, and bodies stacked up on all sides.A gripping tale of crime, rebellion and the hazy line between them, The Next One Is for You is the definitive account of America''s hand in the Troubles - a conflict whose resonance is still felt on both sides of the Atlantic today.

A veteran nature writer walks the length of Britain in pursuit of spring, and of hopeFed up with bleak headlines of biodiversity loss, acclaimed nature writer Roger Morgan-Grenville sets out on a 1,000-mile walk through a British spring to see whether there are reasons to be hopeful about the natural world. His aim is to match the pace at which the oak leaves emerge, roughly 20 miles north each day.Fighting illness, blizzards and his own ageing body, he visits every main habitat between Lymington and Cape Wrath in an epic eight-week adventure, encountering, over and over again, the kindness of strangers and the inspiring efforts of those fighting heroically for nature. With surprising conclusions throughout, what unfolds is both life-affirming and life-changing.

Read the international sensation already translated into 10 languages!Unearthing the network that hid the ''Angel of Death'', the infamous Nazi doctor who escaped justice for more than three decades.In 1985, Betina Anton watched Brazilian authorities apprehend her kindergarten teacher for allegedly using false documents to bury in secrecy the remains of Josef Mengele, known worldwide for cruel human experiments and for sending thousands to the Auschwitz gas chambers. Decades later, as an experienced journalist disturbed by the mysteries surrounding the departure of Austrian expat Liselotte Bossert, Anton set out to find her and see if the rumors were true. She could not imagine how deeply into Mengele''s life-on-the-run her investigation would take her.Josef Mengele was a fugitive in South America for 34 years after World War II, sought by Israeli secret service and Nazi hunters. Hidden for half that time in Brazil, thanks to a small circle of expatriate Europeans, Mengele created his own paradise where he could speak German with new friends, maintain his beliefs, stay one step ahead of the global manhunt, and avoid answering for his crimes.Translated from the Brazilian Tropical Bavaria edition and based on extensive research, including revelatory interviews and never-before-seen letters and photos, Hiding Mengele is a suspenseful narrative haunted not only by the doctor''s horrific actions, but also by the motivations driving a community to protect an evil man.

Award-winning journalist - and author of Hello, Shadowlands - Patrick Winn reveals the inside story of a forbidden republic - the narco-state of the Wa.The jagged mountains dividing China and Burma belong to the Wa, an indigenous group who have outwitted the CIA to create the world''s mightiest narco-state, controlling more territory than Israel and with more troops than Sweden. Are they crime lords? Or visionaries? Wa State has become a real nation with its own highways, anthems, schools and flags. Its leaders promise freedom, using profits from trafficking heroin and meth to attain what China''s other frontier peoples, Tibetans and Uyghurs, can only dream of: a state of their own. Patrick Winn embarks on a risky journey of discovery, chasing clues about the forbidden republic from Thailand to Burma to the secretive Wa State itself.

A stag leaps on an ancient brooch. A doe and a fawn step across a field at first light. A pair of antlers is silhouetted by the side of a busy road.From the earliest cave paintings to the present day, humans and deer have a long and complex history. Royal harts were the coveted quarry of European kings, while the first Americans relied on deer for everything from buckskins to arrow heads. Once hunted to the point of extinction in some parts of the world, deer numbers have exploded in recent years, causing tension between scientists and conservationists. And yet, this is our own story, as the fortune of deer is inextricably bound up with the actions that we humans take on the world around us.Weaving together history and reportage, in The Age of Deer Erika Howsare deftly explores the relationship between our two species in the line where wildness meets humankind. It is a reminder of the poetry and violence of the natural world, from an exciting new voice in nature writing.

A perceptive exploration of poetry, race, and otherness from one of our most promising voices in criticism.Vidyan Ravinthiran was born in the north of England to Sri Lankan Tamils, and moved to the United States five years ago. Considering identity in both its political and psychological senses - as these concepts fuse, or fail to, at different times and in different places - he leaps adventurously between memoir and criticism, understanding his life through poetry, and vice versa. Ranging from Andrew Marvell to Divya Victor, he writes both about and through poems, discussing Sri Lanka; experiences of racism and resilience; intergenerational trauma; pandemic parenting in an autism family; relationships shaped by the internet; growing up with a speech impediment and being sent by one''s aspirational brown parents to elocution lessons; and the relative invisibility of South Asians in Western television and film. This electric, compelling hybrid memoir discovers a new way of writing about the self and also literature.

Change can often seem like an impossible task, but this practical book will help you put it into perspective. With guidance from two experts, you''ll recognize the behaviors and thoughts that hold you back, and will develop skills to think more positively, act more calmly and feel better about yourself. A new and updated edition, this book is full of activities and experiments to explore and challenge, stories and exercises to provide perspective, and a clear framework to encourage and guide you, using the same tools employed by CBT practitioners. The authors'' friendly and supportive approach will help you learn to manage recurrences of negative thinking and behaviors, and to develop strong coping strategies. CBT incorporates the latest therapies and research, including ACT and mindfulness, and explicitly addresses problem areas like insomnia and depression. This edition includes a new chapter focusing on practical advice about making changes and the principles of T.E.A.M-CBT.

Three textile roads tangle their way through Central Asia. The famous Silk Road united east and west through trade. Older still was the Wool Road, of critical importance when houses made from wool enabled nomads to traverse the inhospitable winter steppes. Then there was the Cotton Road, marked by greed, colonialism and environmental disaster. At this intersection of human history, fortunes were made and lost through shimmering silks, life-giving felts and gossamer cottons. Chris Aslan, who has spent fifteen years living and working in the region, expertly unravels the strands of this tangled history and embroiders them with his own experiences of life in the heart of Asia.

Although Xi Jinping came to power a decade ago, he remains an enigmatic figure in the West. His priority has always been to keep Chinese society as stable as possible, steering a course through a period of astounding economic growth, while ensuring that nothing challenges the political status quo. But with unrest stirring in Hong Kong, reports of human rights abuses taking place in the Xinjiang region and, devastatingly, the outbreak of a virus that would change the world, suddenly understanding Xi's China is more important than ever before. In this short and timely book, academic and author Kerry Brown examines the complexities behind the man, explaining the impact that his rule is already having on the West. But who is Xi really, and what is his vision for China's future? And, crucially, what does that mean for the rest of the world?

Mixing bold journalism with bolder allegories, Mr Szablowski teaches us with witty persistence that we must desire freedom rather than simply expect it Timothy Snyder, New York Times bestselling author of ON TYRANNY A devastatingly original look at the world's worst dictators, through the eyes of their personal chefs, by award-winning Polish author Witold Szablowski. What is it like to cook for the most dangerous men in the world? In this darkly funny and fascinating book, Witold Szablowski travels across four continents in search of the personal chefs of five dictators. From the savannahs of Kenya to the faded glamour of Havana, and the bombed-out streets of Baghdad, Szablowski finds the men and women who cooked fish soup for Saddam Hussein, roasted goat for Idi Amin and chopped papaya salad for Pol Pot. He reveals the strangeness of a job where a single culinary mistake could be fatal, but a well-seasoned dish could change your life. And in doing so, he lifts the veil on what life is like at the very heart of power.