Little, Brown Book Group strana 21 z 44

A whistle-stop guide to some of history's brilliantly bizarre drinking games, from the notorious to the wisely forgotten. As long as there have been people, there has been drinking - and as long as there has been drinking, there has been drinking stupidly. Across centuries and continents this universal pastime has spawned an astonishing array of drinking games - some elaborate and considered, others down-right absurd - designed to entertain, punish, impress and inebriate. In History's Greatest Drinking Games, Elliot Martyn takes us on a captivating guided tour of some of our forebearers' silliest drinking rituals, revealing how they began and even how to recreate them (if you dare). From the Ancient Greeks flinging wine across the room in competitive abandon to medieval Scandinavians engaging in insult battles, this book is packed full of fascinating trivia and hilarious historical anecdotes. After all, it's reassuring to know that we've always been idiots - and to learn some new mistakes from the fools who've come before us.

Your favourite Glasgow detective is back with a brand new case''Move over Rebus'' DAILY MAIL''One of the best'' LITERARY REVIEW''Immensely exciting and atmospheric'' ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH''Few have matched the sustained quality of her output'' THE TIMES_____________________DSI William Lorimer first meets Meredith St Claire when he is giving a careers talk at his goddaughter''s school. The popular and glamorous drama teacher is distraught, begging him to investigate her fiancé''s recent disappearance, but with a report already made to the relevant authorities, there''s nothing more Lorimer can do.Until a body is discovered on the outskirts of Glasgow. Guy Richmond was a wealthy and charismatic actor, adored by everyone. Or so it first seems. But as Lorimer and his team are drawn deeper into the mystifying world of professional theatre, they find themselves caught in a web of confidences and rivalry, thwarted dreams and ruthless ambition. For it seems the finest actors of all are those with the darkest secrets to hide.

Obsession is a sicknessFor which there is no cure.Suffolk, 1847.Charles Keller needs to escape London, so he leaps when he is offered a position as surgeon at a country infirmary for the poor. But St Cross is not as he expected, and he soon finds himself reflecting on a promise he once made. A promise to do no harm. Some promises are made to be broken.Suffolk, 2023.Liam has brought his family to an old country house for their family holiday, a former infirmary called St Cross. He can''t tell them why they are really here, but he hopes that, after this, he can start again. No more lies, no more secrets. But what Liam doesn''t know is that the house is keeping secrets of its own.And some secrets are so dark, they should never be brought to light.

A stunning and emotional new novel from the author of Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven.When he is eight years old, Alfie Logan discovers the magical ability to get a second chance at everything. He can undo any moment and live it again. The one catch: he must accept the consequences of his second try - for better or worse.He grows up correcting his mistakes and saving himself from adolescent embarrassments. He even takes foolishly dangerous risks, just to see what it''s like to come close to death, before tapping back to safety. Eventually, Alfie turns his gift to his love life, studying his crushes and going back to make himself more appealing. In time, he falls deeply in love with Gianna, the woman he believes is the one. He seems to find contentment.But as the years pass, Alfie''s eye begins to wander. Which is when he learns a lone caveat to his power: once he undoes a love, that person can never fall in love with him again. Knowing if he gives into to temptation, he will risk losing what he has with Gianna, Alfie makes a choice that changes his life forever.The book begins many years later, after an ailing Alfie is arrested for allegedly cheating and winning millions at a casino roulette wheel. As a curious detective interrogates him, he slowly uncovers Alfie''s incredible story, and its most unlikely conclusion.In Twice, America''s favourite storyteller, Mitch Albom, is at the top of his powers. A love story that is enchanting, probing, and clairvoyant in matters of the heart, Twice will make you think, weep, and overflow with love from beginning to end.Praise for Mitch Albom''Mitch Albom sees the magical in the ordinary'' Cecilia Ahern''Powerful . . . Albom has touched the lives of a lot of people he never even knew'' Time''Compelling and uplifting'' Independent''A writer with soul'' Los Angeles Times

NO ONE IS SAFE FROM THE SERIAL KILLER. NOT EVEN SCARPETTA...During the early hours of Christmas morning, chief medical examiner Dr Kay Scarpetta receives a chilling call. The Phantom Slasher has struck again.The serial killer has terrorized Northern Virginia for months. His pattern is to stalk with a sophisticated technology that enables him to invade his victims'' homes and watch their every move. They wake up to a ghost-like hologram before being murdered in their beds.Scarpetta is summoned to Mercy Island, the site of a notorious psychiatric hospital where two people have been brutalized, one of them from Scarpetta''s past. It soon becomes apparent that she could be next . . .''In Sharp Force Cornwell is at the very top of her game and Scarpetta is as finely wrought as ever. The research is impeccable as always . . . You are in the hands of a master storyteller. Sit back and prepare to be thrilled'' DAVID BALDACCI

''People say to me, if you could do it all again, knowing what you know now, would you change anything? I''m like, f*** no. If I''d been clean and sober, I wouldn''t be Ozzy. If I''d done normal, sensible things, I wouldn''t be Ozzy.''Husband. Father. Grandfather. Icon.1948 - 2025In 2019, at the age of sixty-nine, Ozzy Osbourne was on a triumphant farewell tour, playing to sold-out arenas and rave reviews all around the world.Then: disaster.In a matter of just a few weeks, he went from being hospitalised with a finger infection to having to abandon his tour - and all public life - as he faced near-total paralysis from the neck down.Last Rites is the shocking, bitterly hilarious, never-before-told story of Ozzy''s descent into hell. Along the way are reflections on an extraordinary life and career, including his marriage to wife Sharon, and what it took for him to return to the stage for the triumphant Back to the Beginning concert, streamed around the world, where Ozzy reunited with his Black Sabbath bandmates for the final time.Unflinching, brutally honest, but surprisingly life-affirming, Last Rites demonstrates once again why Ozzy transcended his status as ''The Godfather of Metal'' and ''The Prince of Darkness'' to become a modern-day folk hero and national treasure.

'A sledgehammer of a book putting to bed all the cynicism and misinformation around a condition that affects so many hidden, brilliant people' Professor Tanya Byron'Laugh out loud funny and deeply validating - every person who thinks ADHD isn't real should read this book' Leanne Maskell, author of ADHD: An A to ZNobody should spend their life feeling defective. Everyone deserves to have a user manual to their brain - welcome to yours. Once associated more with hyper boys than adults, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is now recognised as a condition in need of a rebrand which affects people of all genders and ages in a multitude of ways. In this enlightening and definitive layman's guide, Kat Brown cheerfully smashes the stereotypes with scientific evidence, historical context, and practical support for ADHD minds across areas that can cause problems, from finances and work to self-medicating, relationships, hormones and self-esteem. Based on Kat's personal experience and extensive interviews with ADHDers and world-leading clinical experts, It's Not A Bloody Trend is for anyone wondering if what's always been 'wrong' with them might just be undiagnosed ADHD.

Theatrical agent, Michael Whitehall, has been involved with the careers of many eminent actors from Kenneth More, Tom Courtenay, Colin Firth, Dorothy Tutin, Edward Fox, Jack Davenport, Judi Dench, Ian Charleson, Peter Bowles, Elaine Stritch, Richard E Grant, Danie Day-Lewis, David Hemmings and Richard Griffiths amongst others. In Shark-Infested Waters, Michael Whitehall contrasts the glamorous image of theatrical life with the mundane realities of the business, while passing on some startling trade secrets along the way. A laconic raconteur of refreshingly un-starstruck theatrical anecdotes, Whitehall deftly sketches the social comedy of his eccentric background: growing up in suburban London in the 1950s, his schooldays at Ampleforth and his subsequent adventures as a prep schoolmaster - worthy of Evelyn Waugh himself - before becoming an actors' agent. The result is a charming, funny and piquant view of a world that continues to fascinate.

''All the makings of a classic series.'' - Mick Herron----------St Andrews, Scotland: When a woman''s eviscerated body is found on the golf course close to the Fairmont Hotel, DCI Andy Gilchrist and his associate DS Jessie Janes are assigned the investigation. But the post-mortem examination uncovers a shocking detail that must be kept from the public...Who could carry out such a brutal murder? And what is the significance of the gruesome trophy?When DNA uncovers links to a murder committed thirty years earlier, Gilchrist fears a killer of old has resurfaced, or worse, a debut serial killer setting out to learn his murderous trade. The hunt for the killer forces Gilchrist down a dangerous path that puts his and Jessie''s lives in danger, and ultimately leads them to a mind-playing madman who would rather kill again than go to prison.As Gilchrist homes in on the murderer, he finds himself relentlessly drawn into the killer''s mind games and a desperate fight for his life, in which there can only be one winner.Has Gilchrist finally met his match?----------Readers love the DCI Andy Gilchrist series!''DCI Andy Gilchrist is a real copper, flaws an'' all... I read it one sitting'' - Amazon reviewer ?????''Thrilling... first page, a suspicious death, and we''re off!'' - Amazon reviewer ?????''Fascinating storylines... police procedural at its best'' - Amazon reviewer ?????''Rebus did it for Edinburgh. Laidlaw did it for Glasgow. Gilchrist might just be the bloke to put St Andrews on the crime fiction map.'' - Daily Record''Gripping and grisly, with plenty of twists and turns that race along with black humour.'' - Craig Robertson''DCI Gilchrist gets under your skin. Though, determined, and a bit vulnerable, this character will stay with you long after the last page.'' - Anna Smith

We assume we can spot a psychopath from across the room... Nineteen years ago, Ruth-Anne Baker's childhood friend was murdered by convicted killer, Ethan Oswald. With Oswald dead and the case closed, everybody tells Ruth it's time to move on - but she believes there is more to the story. And only the wilfully ignorant or easily duped would fall for their charms. When another young girl goes missing from their small town, Ruth becomes convinced that Oswald had an accomplice, someone the police overlooked. If no one has told you this yet - it's not quite that simple. So begins a journey that will draw Ruth across continents and perilously close to three women, each connected to Oswald in a different way. The deeper she delves, the more she suspects one of them knows the truth. About her childhood friend. About the missing girl. And, perhaps most dangerously of all, about Ruth herself... Blending blisteringly taut suspense with a moving exploration of the ways in which violent crime ricochets through the lives of those left behind, Leave the Girls Behind is a darkly beautiful read that will linger long after you've turned the final page, for fans of Bright Young Women and Notes on an Execution. Praise for Leave the Girls Behind:'Hauntingly astute in how crime affects those left behind. Jacqueline Bublitz is firmly on my radar' Prima'A haunting thriller exploring the devastating effects of crime on those left behind' Woman's Own'Fresh and inventive, with beautiful writing and captivating characters. I can't wait to see what Jacqueline Bublitz does next' Andrea Mara, Sunday Times bestselling author of All Her Fault''I couldn't put this down, desperate to unravel the connections between these women and the girls they'd left behind. An original and beautifully told story of resistance and resilience' Emma Styles, award-winning author of No Country for Girls'Couldn't put it down. Beautifully written. Another fantastic novel by Bublitz!' Real Reader Review ?'Leave the Girls Behind is spectacular...[Jacqueline Bublitz's] insight into human pyschology makes for fascinating characters who weave in and around a plot that holds you until the last page. My wait for this novel was worth it and I highly recommend adding this to your TBR. Top of the pile!' Real Reader Review ?'Wow, just wow! Leave The Girls Behind is a stay-up-all-night-turning-the-pages kind of book and it deserves all the stars...addictive, heartrending, tragic and disturbing. Exploring the effects on those left behind after violent crime, it is a unique and powerful novel' Real Reader Review ?'I loved this deeply moving and atmospheric novel...Examining the way in which the narrative around murdered girls is driven by centring the male who abducts and kills them, this is a social and culturally resonant story wrapped up in a missing-person case with a ticking clock at its heart' Real Reader Review ?

In her unflinching and tenderly obsessive collection, Sculling, poet Sophie Dumont explores a deeply personal relationship to the River Avon, as she circles the curses that unravel from a canoe club. At the age of 16, Sophie Dumont trained to be a canoe coach before her own coach and partner of three years died suddenly in an aquaplaning road accident, which led to five of his organs continuing at least seven people''s lives. His heart was donated to a young man studying in the same city as he did.Using the kayak as a vessel to traverse life''s accumulation of losses, Sculling speaks of how this bereavement caused Dumont to reflect on her relationship to bodies of water, from her own body to the state of pollution in UK rivers. Here, she explores the campaign for rivers to be given personhood status for rights to protection and inspects the symbiosis of her body and the river''s. Sculling is a powerful investigation into categories of haunting, from a body living on through donated organs, through dementia''s slow erasure, and through witnessing her niece learn object permanence - that things continue to exist when they are not visible.In this fiercely vulnerable and meticulous debut, Dumont probes the urge to call out when under a bridge, to hear oneself ricocheted back, changed:''. . . a boy in a red cap opens his throat, throws sound into shadows, as we''ve all done, in the reckless hope of its return.''

''It is STUNNING and I simply sat and read it right through, and shall start again at once. I had no idea that she is such a sensationally fine poet. Astonishing'' JOANNA LUMLEY''Harriet Walter unpicks and re-centres the inner life and journey of these women as only one of our most talented and celebrated classical actors could. A must read!'' MAXINE PEAKE''Bold and original . . . Anyone who cares about Shakespeare will want to own and share this book''JAMES SHAPIRO, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William ShakespeareDame Harriet Walter, renowned for her wonderful portrayals in Succession and Killing Eve among others, is one of Britain''s most esteemed Shakespearean actors. Now, having played most of the Bard''s female characters, audaciously she lets them speak their minds.With thirty new parts for Shakespeare''s women, written in ''Shakespearean'' verse and prose, Harriet Walter goes between the lines of the plays to let us hear what she imagines - sometimes playfully and sometimes searchingly - these women were really thinking. Gertrude tells Hamlet the unvarnished truth; Lady MacBeth has her regrets; Kate, the Shrew, challenges us; Juliet''s nurse challenges the nobility; Cleopatra''s handmaiden reveals her mistress''s secrets; Ariel is frightened of freedom; Ophelia surprises us; Olivia surprises herself; and the Witches have a good old rap.Harriet Walter herself says, ''I worship Shakespeare. His psychological insight is second to none but the mirror that he held up to nature reflected a predominantly male image of the world. I pondered the long shadow of his genius and tried to think of ways to let a little sunlight in on some of his women''s stories. I like to think he wouldn''t mind''.''An incisive, funny, mischievously subversive homage to Shakespeare''s heroines, written by one of mine'' MEERA SYAL''With characteristic wit, compassion and fierce intelligence, she gives tantalising voice to the Bard''s female greats'' TAMSIN GREIG''Effortlessly witty, charming, surprising, delightful. Clearly, Harriet Walter should have been in thewriters'' room with us for Succession'' FRANCESCA GARDINER

Everyone is talking about Myra Breckinridge - and everything you have heard about her is true'I am Myra Breckinridge, whom no man will ever possess.'So begins the irresistible testimony of the luscious instructor of Empathy and Posture at Buck Loner's Academy of Drama and Modeling. Myra has a secret that only her surgeon shares; a passion for classic Hollywood films, which she regards as the supreme achievements of Western culture; and a sacred mission to bring heteronormative civilization to its knees. 'Gore Vidal, a writer of lustrous and fabulously readable prose, was always ahead of his time, so it is wonderful to see some of his finest works being republished for an audience who will be ready to (re)discover his daring, his insight and his wickedly waspish wit' STEPHEN FRY

''Macabre and frightening'' PAULA HAWKINS''Twisted, exhilarating and very, very creepy'' LOUISE CANDLISH''Will keep you reading well into the night and awake well beyond that'' CATHERINE COOPER1978. Mrs. Medlock is the dutiful housekeeper at Marwood Manor. One of the few remaining staff, she protects a dying aristocratic order, serving the Lord and Lady and caring for their sickly young son. For over the past twenty years, Mrs. Medlock has become the keeper of secrets. Secrets of the family. Secrets of her own. Secrets that may be found in the manor''s walled garden, out of sight but not forgotten.When a distant relative, Mary, arrives at the property in need of a place to live and with a determination to explore, Mrs. Medlock fears the secrets of Marwood are no longer safe. And digging up the past may have deadly consequences for them all . . .

When seen through Jewish eyes, the global future looks darker than it has for generations. Fuelled by venomous Israelophobia, violence against Jews, from Amsterdam to New York, from London to Melbourne, is back. Jews across the West are forced to hide their identities, while in the supposed safe haven of Israel they live under constant threat of rocket fire, shootings and stabbings. To make matters worse, in the United States and across Europe, digitally-fuelled nationalist chauvinism is on the march. It is no exaggeration to say that we are seeing the end of the golden age of post-war safety for Jews.This speaks volumes about the health of the West. Although Jews are among the first in the firing-line, liberal democracy itself is under threat from radicals on both sides of the political spectrum. Unforgivably, we have spent decades undermining our own values of patriotism and tradition, loyalty to peoplehood and homeland, a belief in borders and our peculiar religious and cultural sensibilities. These instincts, which had anchored human society since the dawn of history, were repressed in the name of Never Again; but they slowly gave birth to the opposite.Never Again? How the West betrayed the Jews and itself is an urgent new polemic from the author of the acclaimed Israelophobia, which discloses the social and historical causes of the maze of hostility in which Jews are now trapped. Charting the development of this dangerous cultural and geopolitical moment through a collapse in Western leadership since the Second World War, the award-winning columnist, broadcaster and foreign correspondent Jake Wallis Simons offers a searing analysis of the state of the West, arguing that we must remember our older values and stand up for them before it is too late.Praise for IsraelophobiaTelegraph book of the year''An important and necessary book by a superb and subtle writer'' SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE''Important, trenchant and original'' DANIEL FINKELSTEIN''It does the heart good to see one of the greatest expressions of collective animus exposed for the sanctimonious posturing it is. Israelophobia is a book we all need'' HOWARD JACOBSON''Particularly timely'' EVENING STANDARD''There will never be a book more timely'' ROD LIDDLE''A profoundly powerful polemic'' ROB RINDER''Fascinating'' SPECTATOR

Vidal on Vidal - a great and supremely entertaining writer on a great and endlessly fascinating subjectPalimpsest is Gore Vidal's account of the first thirty-nine years of his life as a novelist, dramatist, critic, political activist and candidate, screenwriter, television commentator, controversialist, and a man who knew pretty much everybody worth knowing (from Amelia Earhart to Eleanor Roosevelt, the Duke and the Duchess of Windsor, Jack Kennedy, Jaqueline Kennedy, Jack Kerouac, Truman Capote, Andre Gide, and Tennessee Williams, and on and on). Here, recalled with the charm and razor wit of one of the great raconteurs of our time, are his birth into a DC political clan; his school days; his service in World War II; his emergence as a literary wunderkind in New York; his time in Hollywood, London, Paris and Rome; his campaign for Congress (outpolling JFK in his district); and his legendary feuds with, among many others, Truman Capote and William F. Buckley. At the emotional heart of this book is his evocation of his first and greatest love, boyhood friend Jimmy Trimble, killed in battle on Iwo Jima. 'Gore Vidal, a writer of lustrous and fabulously readable prose, was always ahead of his time, so it is wonderful to see some of his finest works being republished for an audience who will be ready to (re)discover his daring, his insight and his wickedly waspish wit' STEPHEN FRY