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Dog Walks Man: A six-legged odyssey
By John Zeaman. 2010
This is a touching, witty and thought-provoking exploration of the metaphysical aspects of the simple dog walk. Walking Pete (a…
standard poodle named after a Ghostbuster) opens the author up to different way of looking at the world. As he discovers more about his neighbourhood - its wild fringes, its natural wonders and the characters within it - so he becomes more aware of man's connections to his environment.Each chapter is a meditation on the wisdom derived from dogs and dog walking. Woven into the absorbing narrative are the timeless issues of avoiding saying 'w-a-l-k' in canine company; dog walkers' envy of those who find mafia murder victims and the joy of finding wild, no-rules, dog-walking land on your doorstep.John Zeaman's story of how he achieves a Thoreau-like natural harmony through the simple art of walking his dog will lift your spirits and nourish your soul.Digging Up Mother: A Love Story
By Johnny Depp, Doug Stanhope. 2016
After enjoying early success as co-host of The Man Show with Joe Rogan, the past twenty years of Doug Stanhope's…
career can be seen as a subversive insider attack against the "bro-code" he helped to launch. Following a very singular career arc, Stanhope turned his back on Hollywood and toured relentlessly for years, performing up to 200 shows a year. He's a giant cult comedian with a fiercely loyal audience. His material is abrasive and often offensive, but it also relies on a bullshit-free, hardcore, outraged, truth-telling perspective in the tradition of the late Bill Hicks. Stanhope's memoir is sure to rub many the wrong way, but not without causing fits of uncontrollable laughter in the process.Too Close to the Sun: Growing Up in the Shadow of my Grandparents, Franklin and Eleanor
By Curtis Roosevelt. 2008
The Backyard Parables: Lessons on Gardening, and Life
By Margaret Roach. 2013
Margaret Roach has been harvesting thirty years of backyard parables-deceptively simple, instructive stories from a life spent digging ever deeper-and…
has distilled them in this memoir along with her best tips for garden making, discouraging all manner of animal and insect opponents, at-home pickling, and more.After ruminating on the bigger picture in her memoir And I Shall Have Some Peace There, Margaret Roach has returned to the garden, insisting as ever that we must garden with both our head and heart, or as she expresses it, with "horticultural how-to and woo-woo." In THE BACKYARD PARABLES, Roach uses her fundamental understanding of the natural world, philosophy, and life to explore the ways that gardening saved and instructed her, and meditates on the science and spirituality of nature, reminding her readers and herself to keep on digging.Former Major League pitcher and mental skills coach for two of baseball's legendary franchises (the Boston Red Sox and San…
Francisco Giants) Bob Tewksbury takes fans inside the psychology of baseball.In Ninety Percent Mental, Bob Tewksbury shows readers a side of the game only he can provide, given his singular background as both a longtime MLB pitcher and a mental skills coach for two of the sport's most fabled franchises, the Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants. Fans watching the game on television or even at the stadium don't have access to the mind games a pitcher must play in order to get through an at-bat, an inning, a game. Tewksbury explores the fascinating psychology behind baseball, such as how players use techniques of imagery, self-awareness, and strategic thinking to maximize performance, and how a pitcher's strategy changes throughout a game. He also offers an in-depth look into some of baseball's most monumental moments and intimate anecdotes from a "who's who" of the game, including legendary players who Tewksbury played with and against (such as Mark McGwire, Craig Biggio, and Greg Maddux), game-changing managers and executives (Joe Torre, Bruce Bochy, Brian Sabean), and current star players (Jon Lester, Anthony Rizzo, Andrew Miller, Rich Hill).With Tewksbury's esoteric knowledge as a thinking-fan's player and his expertise as a "baseball whisperer", this entertaining book is perfect for any fan who wants to see the game in a way he or she has never seen it before. Ninety Percent Mental will deliver an unprecedented look at the mound games and mind games of Major League Baseball.Living with a SEAL: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet
By Jesse Itzler. 2015
Entrepreneur Jesse Itzler will try almost anything. He brazenly pretended to be an established hip-hop artist to secure a meeting…
with a studio head-and it led to a record deal. He convinced a bunch successful business executives to invest in an unprecedented business plan- and it turned into Marquis Jet. He sincerely offered to run a 100-mile race in Spanx to get the attention of the beautiful founder of the company-and ended up marrying her. His life is about being bold and risky. And it's brought him plenty of rewards. So when Jesse felt himself drifting on autopilot, he hired a rather unconventional trainer to live with him for a month-an accomplished Navy SEAL widely considered to be "the toughest man on the planet"!Living with a SEAL is like a buddy movie if it starred the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air... and Rambo. Jesse is about as easy-going as you can get. SEAL is...not. He even shows up at Jesse's apartment with an inflatable raft just in case the Itzler family ever has to escape Manhattan by crossing the Hudson River. Jesse and SEAL's escapades soon produce a great friendship, and by the time SEAL leaves, Jesse is in the best shape of his life, but he gains much more than muscle. At turns hilarious and inspiring, Living with a SEAL ultimately shows you the benefits of stepping out of your comfort zone.Just Your Average Muslim
By Zia Chaudhry. 2015
Too often we see Islam and Muslims portrayed as fanatical jihadists or helpless victims of western oppression. This book provides…
a rare insight into what, as the book"s title states, the average Muslim makes of it all.The Further Adventures of a London Call Girl
By Belle De Jour. 2006
''She lists like Hornby. She talks dirty like Amis. She has the misanthropy of Larkin and examines the finer points…
of sexual technique as she is adjusting the torque on a beloved but temperamental old E-type...It's hard to believe that this clever and candid new voice has no more to say. Whoever the author is, she should give up the day job. Only then will we find out what the real Belle de Jour is made of.' IndependentThis follow-up to the hugely successful 'Intimate Adventures' will be just as bold, funny and brilliant. Peppered with agony-aunt letters and advice, and stories from her 'working' life, it's also the story of a young woman making her way in the world - told in Belle's inimitable voice.The Children's Nurse: The True Story of a Great Ormond Street Nurse
By Susan Macqueen. 2012
The memoir of a Great Ormond Street nurse.This is the inspirational story of life as a nurse during the 1960s,…
70s and 80s, most of which was spent at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. Susan Macqueen was 12 years old when she accompanied her mum to see her friend Ms Fairweather, the matron at the local nursing home and from that day on she knew she wanted to be a nurse. A few years later, despite being told that her grades weren't good enough and having left school with only two O-Levels, Susan was accepted on the three-year nurses training course at Addenbooke's hospital in Cambridge. It wasn't long before Susan knew she wanted to work with children and set her sights on a job at Great Ormond Street. Thirty-five years later, on her third attempt, Susan has finally retired from that iconic hospital and is enjoying a more leisurely pace of life.Hope, despair, laughter and tears, Susan's stories move the reader through the incredible stories that she was faced with on an every day basis.The Last Diaries: In and Out of the Wilderness
By Alan Clark. 2002
'With his Diaries, he has written himself into the life of our times with a panache and candour that ranks…
him next to Boswell or Pepys' The TimesThe first two volumes of Alan Clark's were irresistible, irreverent, infamous, outrageous. This last volume is a fitting finale to the work of a man who has been described as 'the best diarist of his century'. The third volume begins in 1991 with Alan Clark contemplating quitting as an MP. Life at Saltwood Castle, his home, hangs heavy; then comes the Scott inquiry and the Matrix Churchill affair. Publication of the first volume of the Diaries leads 'the coven', a family of former girlfriends, to sell their story to the NEWS OF THE WORLD. This volume follows his attempts to return to Westminster, an affair that threatens his marriage, and closes with the tragedy of his final months when he is diagnosed with a brain tumour, but keeps his diary until he can no longer focus on the page.The Intimate Adventures Of A London Call Girl
By Belle De Jour. 2005
The bestselling and infamous diary of a high-class call girl, as seen on the show starring Billie Piper.Belle de Jour…
is the nom de plume of a high-class call girl working in London. This is her story.From the summer of 2003 to the autumn of 2004 Belle charted her day-to-day adventures on and off the field in a frank, funny and award-winning web diary. Now, in her Intimate Adventures, Belle elaborates on those diary entries, revealing (among other things) how she became a working girl, what it feels like to do it for money, and where to buy the best knickers for the job. From debating the literary merits of Martin Amis with naked clients to smuggling whips into luxury hotels, this is a no-holds barred account of the high-class sex-trade, and an insight into the secret life of an extraordinary woman.But What Do You Actually Do?: A Literary Vagabondage
By Sir Alistair Horne Cbe. 2011
This wonderfully entertaining journey takes us from Alistair Horne's childhood as a wartime evacuee in America to his career as…
a highly successful historian and biographer, via a stint as a foreign correspondent for the Daily Telegraph. We travel with him from Germany to America, from Canada to France, from Latin America to the Middle East. A consummate biographer, the pages of Horne's 'Literary Vagabondage' abound with vivid character sketches of the friends and foes that have shaped his life.Absolutely: The Bestselling Memoir
By Joanna Lumley. 2011
'Mischievous and measured, Joanna Lumley gives us a remarkable portrait of a groovy life...a life astonishingly rich in experience' THE…
TIMES'Captures perfectly the mixture of poshness and larkiness that has captivated Joanna Lumley's audiences...Joanna writes beautifully, managing to be both thoughtful and amusing' DAILY MAIL'An actress with an extraordinarily varied life that has taken her from Kashmir to Kent, from Bond girl to Ab Fab. It's all here in this gloriously illustrated, entertaining memoir, that's packed with personal photos and reminiscences' WOMAN & HOMEJoanna Lumley is one of Britain's undisputed national treasures. A single mum, iconic actress, voiceover artist and author, best known for her roles in ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS and THE NEW AVENGERS, she is a former model and Bond girl, a human rights activist for Survival International and the Gurkha Justice Campaign, and is now considered a 'national treasure' of Nepal as well as the UK. She has won two BAFTA awards, but it is the sheer diversity of her life that has made her so compelling a personality - early years in Kashmir and Malaya, growing up in Kent, then a photographic model before becoming an actress, appearing in a huge range of roles, and many documentaries including those on on the Northern Lights, Bhutan and the Nile.'Lumley has done it all, from sex kitten and TV star to activist for the Gurkhas. Read about it here.' - No.2 of The Independent's 'Ten Best New Memoirs' INDEPENDENTIn Tearing Haste: Letters Between Deborah Devonshire and Patrick Leigh Fermor
By Deborah Devonshire, Patrick Leigh Fermor. 2008
In spring 1956, Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire - youngest of the six legendary Mitford sisters - invited the writer and…
war hero Patrick Leigh Fermor to visit Lismore Castle, the Devonshires' house in Ireland. This halcyon visit sparked off a deep friendship and a lifelong exchange of sporadic but highly entertaining letters. There can rarely have been such contrasting styles: Debo, unashamed philistine and self-professed illiterate (though suspected by her friends of being a secret reader), darts from subject to subject while Paddy, polyglot, widely read prose virtuoso, replies in the fluent, polished manner that has earned him recognition as one of the finest writers in the English language. Prose notwithstanding, the two friends have much in common: a huge enjoyment of life, youthful high spirits, warmth, generosity and lack of malice. There are glimpses of President Kennedy's inauguration, weekends at Sandringham, stag hunting in France, filming with Errol Flynn in French Equatorial Africa and, above all, of life at Chatsworth, the great house that Debo spent much of her life restoring, and of Paddy in the house that he and his wife Joan designed and built on the southernmost peninsula of Greece.In Search Of England
By Roy Hattersley. 2009
Passionate, affectionate and indefatigably curious, In Search of England joins a tradition of writing, from William Cobbett to JB Priestley,…
that makes a journey around the English countryside and character. England is the most various of countries; within its borders, life changes mile on mile. Roy Hattersley celebrates crumbling churches and serene Victorian architecture, magnificent hills and wind-whipped coast, our music, theatre and local customs, and, above all, the quirky good humour and resilience of England's denizens. In Search of England is an unapologetic love story, a paean of praise for all the fascinating variety and flavour of England's places and people.My Child and Other Mistakes: How to ruin your life in the best way possible
By Ellie Taylor. 2021
'Very, very, very funny' JO BRAND'Bloody hilarious' CARIAD LLOYD'Full of honesty, heart and humour' JASON MANFORD'Raw, honest and hilarious' ROSIE…
RAMSAY'Refreshingly honest' ROMESH RANGANATHAN'Consistently funny and life affirming' JOSH WIDDICOMBE'I want my daughters to read this book' SINDHU VEEMy Child and Other Mistakes is the honest lowdown on Motherhood and all its grisly delights, asking the questions no one wants to admit to asking themselves - do I want a child? Do I have a favourite? Do I wish I hadn't had one and spent the money on a kitchen island instead? Stand-up comic, broadcaster and actress Ellie Taylor is relatable, clever and interested in how women can have it all. Her honest, hilarious and moving account of the whys and hows of having a baby makes perfect reading for expectant mothers and fathers everywhere, as well as those who've been there, done that, and wonder how on earth they did. In this very funny book she writes candidly about her own personal experience exploring the decision to have a baby when she doesn't even like them, the importance of cheese during pregnancy, why she took hair straighteners to the labour ward, plus the apocalyptic newborn days, childcare, work and the inevitable impact on life and love and most importantly, her breasts.Diaries, 1971-1983
By Michael Bloch, James Lees-Milne. 2001
Funny, indiscreet, candid, touching and sharply observed, this second compilation from James Lees-Milne's celebrated diaries covers his life during his…
sixties and early seventies, when he was living in Gloucestershire with his formidable wife Alvilde. It vividly portrays life on the Badminton estate of the eccentric Duke of Beaufort, meetings with many friends (including John Betjeman, Bruce Chatwin and the Mitford sisters) and the diarist's varied emotional experiences. Having made his name as the National Trust's country houses expert and a writer on architecture, he now established himself as a novelist and biographer. With some misgivings he published his wartime diaries, little imagining that it was as a diarist that he would achieve lasting fame.Fat, Forty And Fired: The year I lost my job and got a life
By Nigel Marsh. 2009
Approaching forty, Nigel Marsh's life seems almost perfect: he has moved with his family from the UK to Sydney and…
runs the Australian office of a leading advertising agency. However, he is also stressed, overweight and struggling to balance a career, a marriage and the demands of four small children.But everything changes when he loses his job.After the initial shock of redundancy, Marsh decides to embrace life outside the office and reconnect with his family. FAT, FORTY AND FIRED is the hilarious, insightful and deeply moving account of his 'gap year' at home, as he rediscovers fatherhood, loses twenty kilograms, kicks his drinking habit, trains for an ocean swim race and generally gets his house in order.FAT, FORTY AND FIRED is a story for anyone who has dreamed about leaving the rat race behind and living a more meaningful life.Memory Maps
By Lisa St. Aubin De Teran. 2002
I am a wanderer: one with a hoarder's love of houses and things... I am tracing here a memory map…
of all the places that have stayed with me and, since this is also a map of all the voyages of discovery, this is also the story of the getting to those places.' In Memory Map, probably her most personal book, Lisa charts a life spent in all corners of the world, from Wimbledon to the Venezuelan Andes, from the Caribbean to Ghana, and confesses to wanderlust and fate as being her chief guides. An itinerant lifestyle creates an unpredictable personal life though and Lisa writes movingly about being the support for three children by three different husbands and also, of the pain of failing to be strong.Shadows Of The Workhouse: The Drama Of Life In Postwar London
By Jennifer Worth. 2008
A fascinating slice of East End life, from the No.1 bestsellilng author of CALL THE MIDWIFE, soon to be a…
major BBC TV series.In this follow up to CALL THE MIDWIFE, Jennifer Worth, a midwife working in the docklands area of East London in the 1950s tells more stories about the people she encountered. There's Jane, who cleaned and generally helped out at Nonnatus House - she was taken to the workhouse as a baby and was allegedly the illegitimate daughter of an aristocrat. Peggy and Frank's parents both died within 6 months of each other and the children were left destitute. At the time, there was no other option for them but the workhouse. The Reverend Thornton-Appleby-Thorton, a missionary in Africa, visits the Nonnatus nuns and Sister Julienne acts as matchmaker. And Sister Monica Joan, the eccentric ninety-year-old nun, is accused of shoplifting some small items from the local market. She is let off with a warning, but then Jennifer finds stolen jewels from Hatton Garden in the nun's room. These stories give a fascinating insight into the resilience and spirit that enabled ordinary people to overcome their difficulties.