So far, everything I'd put together went something like this: 1) There was a freaky paranormal organization I've never heard of sending people to protect me from ruthlessly lethal demons bent on murdering me for absolutely no reason I could think of. 2) A dangerous duo of charismatic twin brothers-one of which is somehow related to me-had been sent to do the job. 3) A sparky (and sparkly) and daring new teen girl that takes bipolar to a whole new level and just maybe needs to check into an insane asylum, was acting like we had been friends forever-or were going to be. Which, though the thought was definitely interesting, scared me slightly. 4) All these things added up to a wonderful sitcom made specially by God for me, called: "The End of My Normal Life as I Knew It." God.

A new, definitive biography of the iconic and mysterious singer, Warhol superstar, Velvet Underground collaborator: influential solo artist Nico. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL AND YOU ARE ALONE is a new biography of Nico, the mysterious singer best known for her work with the Velvet Underground and her solo album Chelsea Girl. Her life is tangled in myth--much of it of her own invention. Rock and roll cultural historian Jennifer Bickerdike delivers a definitive book that unravels the story while making a convincing case for Nico's enduring importance. Over the course of her career, Nico was an ever-evolving myth: art film house actress, highly coveted fashion model, Dietrich of Punk, Femme Fatale, Chelsea Girl, Garbo of Goth, The Last Bohemian, Heroin Junkie. Lester Bangs described her as 'a true enigma.' At age 27, Nico became Andy Warhol's newest Superstar, featuring in his one commercial break out hit film Chelsea Girls and garnering the position of chanteuse for the Velvet Underground. It wasn't Nico's musical chops which got her the gig; it was her striking beauty. Her seeming otherworldly and unattainable presence was further amplified by her reputation for dating rock stars (Brian Jones, Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison, among others). She became famous for being Nico. Yet Nico's talent and her contribution to rock culture are often overlooked. She spent most of her career as a solo artist on the road, determined to make music, seemingly against all the odds, enduring empty concert halls, abusive fans, and the often perilous reality of being an ageing artist and drug addict. She created mesmerizing and unique projects that inspired a generation of artists, including Henry Rollins, Morrissey, Siousxie Sioux and the Banshees and Iggy Pop. Drawing on the archives at the Andy Warhol Museum and at Nico's record labels, various private collections, and rarely seen footage, and featuring exclusive new interviews from those who knew her best, including Iggy Pop and Danny Fields, and those inspired by her legacy, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL AND YOU ARE ALONE reveals the complicated, often compromised, self-destructive and always head strong woman behind the one-dimensional myths.

Tillie is an eight-year-old girl who doesn't stop. She buzzes with an incessant creative energy, dreaming and dancing and always talking, talking, talking: and all for her beautiful mother Mara. But for Mara even the ordinary world is too much; suffocating under an unshakeable misery, all she longs for is life to leave her alone. When Tillie's father receives a promotion, he sees a new chance to impose order - and by the time Tillie arrives in their new house her mother is nowhere to be seen. Tillie's imagination feverishly tries to solve the mystery, but the truth is far more distressing than she ever could have thought. An achingly real depiction of a family struggling with mental illness, Up from the Blue is a wrenching debut recalling the works of Lionel Shriver, Mark Haddon, and Emma Donoghue.

In 1977 Prime Minister James Callaghan and Liberal leader David Steel struck a constitutional deal, by which the Labour government could survive a vote of no confidence and get its business through Parliament, while the Liberals gained access to the anterooms of power. The Pact, a contemporaneous account of the hatching and workings of the 'Lib-Lab' deal of 1977-8, is an invaluable time-capsule of British politics but also a pointer to its future. Coalition government has oft been scorned in Britain, since - as Alistair Michie and Simon Hoggart note - the main parties regard their opponents chiefly as 'targets off which points may be scored'. But hung parliaments and inter-party deals, as revived in May of 2010, may be back to stay. This new edition of The Pact, in memory of its co-author Simon Hoggart (1946-2014), includes new prefaces by David Steel, Roy Hattersley, and the journalist Stephen Bush.

The genius of Dickens meets PJ Harvey's fierce, lyrical songs in this romantic and propulsive thriller adapted by Ben Power ( The Lehman Brothers). It begins like this. With the dusk and the storm and the Thames. A storm rages and, in the darkest part of the night, a body is pulled from the swirling Thames. Across the city, two young women confront an uncertain future. In Limehouse, Lizzie Hexam struggles to break free of the river and its dark secrets. On the other side of town, Bella Wilfer mourns a lost marriage. The appearance of the mysterious John Rokesmith has the potential to change their lives for ever. Will they sink or swim? A hymn to the city and the river that runs through it, London Tide premiered at the National Theatre, London, in April 2024.

David Morgan and Miranda Quin are two maverick, culturally sophisticated Toronto detectives. When a man is found dead in a koi pond, or two colonial corpses are arranged in a grisly diorama, the pair leap into action — and harm’s way. This four-ebook bundle gathers together the complete Quin and Morgan mystery series by acclaimed author John Moss. Includes Still Waters Grave Doubts Reluctant Dead Blood Wine

Kay Harker is heading home for the school holidays. Recently orphaned, he knows this Christmas will be different but nothing could prepare him for the journey that lies ahead. On the train he meets an old magician, Cole Hawlings, who charges Kay with safeguarding a wondrous device that has time-travelling powers. It's an instrument that Cole's nemesis, the wicked sorcerer Abner Brown, will stop at nothing to steal for himself. And so when the old man mysteriously disappears, Kay faces the fight of his life. He must protect both the Box of Delights and, with it, the people he loves. The Box of Delights is a magical and festive adventure in which one boy must confront the secrets of the past to defeat the evil in his present. The future of Christmas itself depends upon him. Adapted for the stage for the first time by Piers Today, John Masefield's much-loved classic The Box of Delightspremiered at Wilton's Music Hall in December 2017. 'One of the greatest children's books ever written.' The Times

Chronic overachiever Prudence Barnett is always quick to cast judgment on the lazy, rude, and arrogant residents of her coastal town. Her dreams of karmic justice are fulfilled when, after a night out with her friends, she wakes up with the sudden ability to cast instant karma on those around her. Pru giddily makes use of the power, punishing everyone from public vandals to mean gossips, but there is one person on whom her powers consistently backfire: Quint Erickson, her slacker of a lab partner. Quint is annoyingly cute and impressively noble, especially when it comes to his work with the rescue center for local sea animals. When Pru resigns herself to working at the rescue centre for extra credit, she begins to uncover truths about baby otters, environmental upheaval, and romantic crossed signals - not necessarily in that order. Her newfound karmic insights reveal how thin the line is between virtue and vanity, generosity and greed . . . love and hate . . . and fate.