Showing results by narrator "Peter Kenny" in All Categories

The beloved author of The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared returns with an enchanting adventure that skewers the greed and hypocrisy that dominate our time and holds lessons about what is truly important in life

The Gameshouse is an unusual institution. Many know it as the place where fortunes can be made and lost though games of chess, backgammon - every game under the sun. But a select few, who are picked to compete in the higher league, know that some games are played for higher stakes - those of politics and empires, of economics and kings...And now, the ultimate player is about to step forward.

A loft apartment in London's East End; cool but doomed - demolition and redevelopment slated from the following week. Ken Nott, devoutly contrarian leftish shock-jock attending a mid-week wedding lunch, starts dropping stuff off the rood towards the deserted car park 100 feet below. Other guests join in and soon half the contents of the flat are following the fruit towards the pitted tarmac... just as mobiles start to ring, and the apartment's remaining TV is turned on, because apparently a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center.

John Wright has been leading forays around Britain for decades. As an expert forager, he shows people how to identify the edible species that abound—but he also reveals the natural history, stories and science behind our surroundings. Here, he takes us with him on eight walks: from verdant forests to wild coastlines, via city pavements, fields and rolling hills, he illuminates what can be found on a walk across any British terrain, and how you might observe and truly understand them, for yourself.

The Bookshop in Wigtown is a bookworm's idyll—with thousands of books across nearly a mile of shelves, a real log fire, and Captain, the bookshop cat. You'd think after twenty years, owner Shaun Bythell would be used to the customers by now. Don't get him wrong—there are some good ones among the antiquarian porn-hunters, die-hard Arthurians, people who confuse bookshops for libraries and the toddlers just looking for a nice cosy corner in which to wee. He's sure there are. There must be some good ones, right?

Once again, internationally acclaimed, New York Times best-selling author Carlos Ruiz Zafón creates a rich, labyrinthine tale of love, literature, passion, and revenge, set in a dark, gothic Barcelona, in which the heroes of The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game must contend with a nemesis that threatens to destroy them.

The Kemps were a Cornish Catholic family who had held on to Kellycoryk, their family home, for almost five hundred years. But it was beginning to look as though the present century would be their last. Roger, head of the shrinking clan, was desparate to save the house and land. His second marriage, to the shrewd and tough businesswoman, Bridget, offered a way out.

Die for the company, live for the pay. And the ultimate payoff is DH-17, an earthlike planet hundreds of light years from human habitation. Ruthless corporations vie over the prize remotely, and war is in full swing. But soldiers recruited to fight in the extremities of deep space come with their own problems, from AI minds in full rebellion to Carlos 'the Terrorist' and his team of dead mercenaries, reincarnated from a bloodier period in earth's history for one purpose only: to kill.

She came to the throne in 1952 when Britain had a far-flung empire, sweets were rationed, mums stayed home and kids played on bombsites. Seventy years on, everything has changed utterly—except the Queen herself, ageing far more gracefully than the fractious nation over which she so lightly presides. How did we get from there to here in a single reign? To cancel culture, anti-vaxxers and Twitter feeds? Matthew Engel tells the story—starting with the years from Churchill to Thatcher—with his own light touch and a wealth of fascinating, forgotten, often funny detail.

The crash is the unravelling of Margaret Holloway. Trapped inside a car about to explode, she is rescued by a scarred stranger who then disappears. Margaret remembers little, but she's spent her life remembering little - her childhood is full of holes and forgotten memories. Now she has a burning desire to discover who she is and why her life has been shrouded in secrets. What really happened to her when she was a child? Could it have anything to do with the mysterious man who saved her life?

Everyone knows who you find in bookshops: people who want to buy books. But, as Shaun Bythell reveals, that's really only half the story. Join Shaun as he introduces us to seven bookshop characters, from the Person Who Doesn't Know What They Want (But Thinks It Might Have a Blue Cover) to the harried Parents Secretly After Free Childcare and all the way over to the erotica section, where we'll meet The Person Who Is Up to No Good.

Giving an insight into the power of thoughts, the effect they have on our health, body, and circumstances, this is a compelling literary essay containing practical wisdom which will inspire, enlighten, and help us discover our hidden powers. Written in a spiritual tone, As a Man Thinketh has been a valuable source of inspiration ever since its first publication in 1903. It continues to remain a classic bestseller.

Girvyn must master his emerging abilities to navigate a destiny that binds him to an epic struggle between dreams and reality. With the world teetering on collapse, can Queen Amelia of Rathnell and her sworn protector, Elaya Faith, persuade other nations to join forces to assault Crane’s northern fortress, or will the fate of the waking world rest on the shoulders of a young scholar?

London, 1897. A young girl, Valentine Grey, arrives in England. She's been brought up in the remote and sunny climes of India and finds being forced into corsets and skirts in damp and cold country insufferable. The only bright spot: her exciting cousin, Reggie. Reggie and his lover, Frank, seek out the adventure the clandestine bars and streets of London offer and are happy to include Valentine in their secret. And then comes the Boer War, and Reggie's father volunteers him; the empire must be defended. But it won't be Reggie who dons the volunteer regiment's garb.

David Morgan, RAF officer and poet, relives his experiences during the Falklands War in this vivid memoir. On secondment to the Royal Navy when the Argentine invasion of the Falklands began, and personally credited with shooting down two Argentine Skyhawks as well as enemy helicopters, Morgan was later awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Here he recounts his involvement in the first British airstrike against Argentine positions around Port Stanley and describes being first on the scene when enemy jets bombed the landing ships Sir Tristram and Sir Galahad.

Stuart's not sure about having a lodger. And he's not used to Florence, an ageing tribute band singer who's full of life. Nor the pairs of voluminous knickers left to dry on every spare surface in the bathroom. Florence is everything Stuart has never allowed himself to be: bold, fearless, unabashedly herself. He's spent his life putting everyone's needs ahead of his own, avoiding risks and hiding from chances. Soon Florence is persuading Stuart to dance with her in the kitchen. And when his childhood sweetheart shows up again, it's Florence who encourages him to make his move.

A mysterious toymaker who lives as a recluse in an old mansion, surrounded by the magical beings he has created...a sickly wife locked away in a hidden room...an enigma involving strange lights that shine out from the small island on which an old, disused lighthouse stands...a shadowy creature that hides deep in the woods...These are the elements of a mystery will bind 14-year-old Irene to Ismael during one magical summer spent in Blue Bay when her mother takes a job as a housekeeper for the enigmatic toymaker, Lazarus Jann.

John Sackville will soon be dead. Shadows writhe in the corners of his cell as he mourns the death of his secret lover and the gnawing hunger inside him grows impossible to ignore. He must write his last testament before it is too late. It is a story steeped in history and myth - a journey from stone circles in Scotland, to the barren wilderness of Ukraine where otherworldly creatures stalk the night, ending in the icy peaks of Tibet and Mongolia, where an ancient evil stirs . .

The first two books in the Singularity's Children series: Denial and Disruption. Subversive, fast-paced action. A provocative excursion into a near-future civilization struggling to survive the maelstrom of post-human forces its technology is unleashing.

Mr. M is being watched. As a famous writer, he is no stranger to the limelight, although interest in his work has been dwindling of late. His print runs are smaller than they used to be, as are the crowds at his bookshop signings.... Our narrator clearly takes a keen interest in M.'s work, and indeed in every aspect of his life. But what exactly are his intentions? And to what does Mr. M owe the honour of his undivided attention?