Bloomsbury Publishing

Coraline has moved to a new house with her parents and she is fascinated by the fact that their 'house' is in fact only half a house! Divided into flats years before, there is a brick wall behind a door where once there was a corridor and one day it is a corridor again, down which the intrepid Coraline wanders. And so a nightmare-ish mystery begins that takes Coraline into the arms of counterfeit parents and a life that isn't quite right. Can Coraline get out? Can she find her real parents? Will life ever be the same again?

Kingsley Amis was one of the great masters of comic prose, and no subject was dearer to him than the art and practice of imbibing. This new volume brings together the best of his three out-of-print works on the subject: Kingsley Amis in Drink, Everyday Drinking and How's Your Glass? In one handsome package, the book covers a full shelf of the master's riotous and erudite thoughts on the drinking arts: Along with a series of well-tested recipes (including a cocktail called the Lucky Jim) are Amis's musings on The Hangover, The Boozing Man's Diet, The Mean Sod's Guide, and (presumably as a matter of speculation) How Not to Get Drunk — all leavened with fun quizzes on the making and drinking of alcohol all over the world. Mixing practical know — how and hilarious opinionation, this is a delightful cocktail of wry humour and distilled knowledge, served by one of our great gimlet wits.

A choral novel on the hopes, disillusionments and betrayals of family life in Mexico. A rich Catholic rancher wants his four sons to become priests, while the boys themselves have other plans; a bereaved mother explains her daughter's life to the man who killed her; three daughters meet up around their father's coffin for the first time in ten years; a middle-aged couple meet by chance on a cruise-ship and wonder if they were once young lovers. The result is a picture of contemporary Mexico seen through a violently fragmented narrative, not unlike the internationally successful film Amores Perros. The stories are punctuated by a chorus, commenting as if in a Greek tragedy, crudely and unsentimentally on the underbelly of modern Mexican life, offering a raw but richly textured glimpse of the inequalities of that society — street children, junkies, dead rock icons, the ideal wife, a honeymoon gone wrong, a child suicide, a man faking his death and beginning a new life — that throw the middle-class dramas of the linked stories into harsh relief. Happy Families is a dramatic polyphony of the many conflicting strands of Latin America and the modern urban world.

In 1925, six of Germany's leading chemical companies banded together in a cartel to protect their business from increasing international competition. Twenty years later the directors found themselves on trial at Nuremberg, accused of being 'the magicians who made the fantasies of Mein Kampf come true'. How had one of the world's leading companies, whose knowledge and expertise were the envy of the world, become Hitler's creature, directly involved in the Holocaust with their experimental I. G. Monowitz plant at Auschwitz? In this brilliantly researched and compelling book, Diarmuid Jeffreys shines a bright light on I. G Farben's Faustian pact with the Third Reich to reveal in shocking detail the story of the original military-industrial complex.

Perhaps it's best to live with the possibility that around any corner, at any time, may come the person who reminds you of your own capacity to surprise yourself, to put at risk everything that's dear to you Thirty years ago Jo Becker's bohemian life ended when she found her best friend brutally murdered. Now Jo has everything: work she loves, a devoted husband, three grown daughters and a beautiful home. But when an old friend settles in her small town, the fabric of Jo's life begins to unravel, as she enters a relationship that returns her to the darkest moments of her past, imperilling all that she loves.

But Time is big business, and whoever gets control of Time controls life as we know it! In a house called Tanglewreck lives a girl called Silver and her guardian Mrs Rokabye. Unbeknown to Silver there is a family treasure in the form of a seventeenth-century watch called the Timekeeper, and this treasure holds the key to the mysterious and frightening changes in time. When Silver goes on the run to try and protect herself and the Timekeeper, a remarkable and compelling adventure unfolds, full of brilliance and wit, as is befitting an author with the imagination and style of Jeanette Winterson.

Rin, Razo's little sister, is haunted by the forest she has always loved. When Razo invites her back to the city to be one of Queen Ani's waiting women, she happily accepts... only to end up on the adventure of her lifetime, following the queen, Enna, and Dasha into the countryside in search of a fire-starting enemy that no one can see. As she learns more about the three women's magical talents, she finds her own strength comes from places both expected the forest and unexpected the sound of her own voice. A brilliant addition to the Books of Bayern', this book is a treat for fans of this series, and stands alone for readers who might be discovering the joys of Shannon Hale's writing for the first time.

When a baby escapes a murderer intent on killing the entire family, who would have thought it would find safety and security in the local graveyard? Brought up by the resident ghosts, ghouls and spectres, Bod has an eccentric childhood learning about life from the dead. But for Bod there is also the danger of the murderer still looking for him — after all, he is the last remaining member of the family. A stunningly original novel deftly constructed over eight chapters, featuring every second year of Bod's life, from babyhood to adolescence. Will Bod survive to be a man?

No longer the sick man of Europe, Russia is run by an authoritarian ex-KGB regime with the cash to put its ideas into practice. Under Vladimir Putin's autocratic rule, it silences its critics and bullies its neighbors. The murders of Anna Politkovskaya and Aleksander Litvinenko have sent a grim warning to other critics and the sham presidential 'election' in 2007 that put Dmitry Medvedev in the Kremlin as Putin's hand-picked successor showed how Russia's rulers, not the voters, dictate the country's political future. The New Cold War explains the Kremlin's use of energy blockades and trade sanctions, military sabre-rattling and propaganda wars against its neighbors — and why a divided and demoralized West is responding so feebly. It is an incisive and disturbing account of why we are perilously close to defeat — and how we can still win.

Beginning in America, and spilling back over memories and generations to India, Unaccustomed Earth follows new lives forged in the wake of loss.These are stories in which deeply sympathetic characters reach pivotal moments in their frayed relationships and are forced to navigate their way in unfamiliar landscapes. In the title story the death of a mother leaves a space neither daughter nor husband knows how to fill. In 'Only Goodness' a younger brother's spiralling alcoholism threatens to destroy his loyal sister's family. And in a trio of linked stories we follow the lives of a girl and boy who, one memorable winter, share a house in suburban Massachusetts. They travel from innocence to experience on separate, sometimes painful paths, until they are brought together years later in a chance meeting in Rome. With moving compassion Lahiri traces a series of transformations: weariness into hope, secrets into sacrifices, and grief into unforeseen love. Eight luminous stories — longer and richer than any she has yet written — explore the heart of family life and the immigrant experience, taking us from America to Europe, India and Thailand.Infused with eloquent warmth and lyrical simplicity, Unaccustomed Earth confirms Jhumpa Lahiri's status as a storyteller of unrivalled empathy.

Ovid and Lorelli Thornthwaite had been trying to kill each other for so long that neither twin could remember which act of attempted murder came first. But whoever had struck first, trying to take each other's lives was simply what they did. Until one day a lawyer arrives at their house to take stock of its contents, and his accompanying son attracts their attention. Soon a new battle evolves — one in which the twins have to work together to solve the mystery of their parents' deaths. Can Lorelli and Ovid overcome their old animosities, and will they ever get to finish that game of chess?

At the Old Inn, which clings precariously to a cliff top above a storm-lashed ocean, two sick children are left alone while their father fetches the doctor. Then a visitor comes begging for shelter, and so begins a long night of storytelling, in which young Ethan and Cathy, who have an unnatural appetite for stories of a macabre persuasion, sit out the last throes of the storm in the company of a sailor with more than enough grisly tales to satisfy them. But something about this sailor puts Ethan on edge, and he becomes increasingly agitated for his father's return. Only when the storm blows itself out can Ethan relax — but not for long, for the new dawn opens the children's eyes to a truth more shocking, more distressing than anything they heard the night before.

'In a brief statement on Friday night, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge confirmed that He Who Must Not Be Named has returned to this country and is once more active. It is with great regret that I must confirm that the wizard styling himself Lord — well, you know who I mean — is alive and among us again, said Fudge.' These dramatic words appeared in the final pages of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In the midst of this battle of good and evil, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince takes up the story of Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with Voldemort's power and followers increasing day by day...

A boxed set, including the titles Harry Potter and the Philosopher`s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

A very happy bear hears the sounds of the city from his quiet home by the sea and decides to find out what city life is like. Buying the ticket and travelling on the train is all very exciting. And so is the city! But after a while the bear finds the city a little too noisy and a little too busy — and people are beginning to laugh at him. He feels very sad and alone, until four children find him and show him the way home, with much fun along the way. A perfect book for reading aloud, with just the right amount of excitement before a wonderfully calming ending — just right for reading before bedtime!

Peony is the cherished only child of the first wife of a wealthy Chinese nobleman. Yet she is betrothed to a man she has never met and as her sixteenth birthday approaches, she has spoken to no man other than her father and never ventured outside the cloistered women's quarters of the Chen Family Villa. Though raised to be obedient, Peony has dreams of her own. But when, from behind a screen, Peony catches sight of an elegant, handsome man with hair as black as a cave and is immediately bewitched by him. So begins Peony's journey of love, desire and sorrow as Lisa See's haunting new novel takes readers back to seventeenth-century China and into the heart and soul of an unforgettable heroine.

In this vivid and humorous journey, Richardson takes us past the cliches of paella and gazpacho to tell the real story of Spain's mouth-watering food, from the typical coastal cuisine to the shepherd cooking of the interior and the chic 'urban' food of Madrid and Barcelona. Along the way he gets caught up in a fish auction and the annual pig slaughter, spends a day at El Bulli restaurant and makes a never-ending stream of new friends.

From the Big Bang, to the present day, via Ancient China, The Roman Empire, Attila the Hun, The Dark Ages, Enlightenment, Revolution! etc. The entire history of the world has been packed into one hilarious, irreverent comic strip. From Goths and Visigoths, to Newton and Copernicus, all the significant facts and titillating trivias of the world's most important periods, starting with the Big Bang, have been condensed for your entertainment and of course, education. Written by Tracey Turner (101 Things) and illustrated by celebrated cartoonist Sally Kindberg, this is the ultimate book for absolutely everyone. (Why let kids have all the fun).

Funny, moving and sharply observed, these stories are confirmation of Boyd's status as one of English fiction's finest writers. Here are twenty-four gripping tales told in bold, distinct voices from Brazil to Africa and from Nice to Hollywood. This eclectic collection by the acclaimed author of Restless and Brazzaville Beach is a must-read for any lover of the short story.

On 20 July 1944, Adolf Hitler narrowly escaped death when an assassin's bomb failed to kill him. The conspirators, among them Axel von Gottberg, were hunted down and hanged from meat-hooks, and their executions were filmed. Sixty years later, Conrad Senior is left a legacy of von Gottberg's papers and letters and becomes obsessed with what they reveal and with finding the film of those brutal executions. Award-winning writer Justin Cartwright has conjured a masterwork that addresses the nature of friendship and what it means to be human, and it is a remarkable tapestry of passion, ideas, frailty and courage.

St Petersburg, 1914. Dr. Otto Spethmann, a famous psychoanalyst, is implicated in a murder. But he is preoccupied with Avrom Rozental, the brilliant chess master who is due to play the most important competition of his life but is on the verge of a breakdown. With the city rife with speculation and alarm, Spethmann broods over his own chessboard, its pieces frozen mid-battle, and contemplates the forces — political, historical, sexual — that are holding him in their grasp.

Marvel at the sheer brilliance of invention, from glass to underpants, the noble compass to the humble pencil. Not forgetting, of course, the undeniably indispensable banana suitcase. Filled with fascinating details about everything from the most common everyday object to inventions which changed society, it will also distinguish the strokes of genius from discoveries of sheer chance, or millennia of evolution... and reveal the real reason why Alfred Nobel had to establish a peace prize (tut, tut). Expand your knowledge of man's accomplishments in the most compelling — and irreverent — way possible.

On 4 October 1957, at the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union secretly launched Sputnik, Earth's first artificial moon. Powered by a car battery, it passed over the stunned American continent once every 101 minutes and propelled the USSR from backward state to superpower and pioneer of the Space Age. This is the pulse-racing story of a time when two nations and ideologies were pitted against each other in a quest that laid the foundations of the modern technological world.

Princess Lois has been kidnapped by Anatoly the Handsome, who wants to marry her. Cue ‘damsel in distress’ to be rescued by none other than our own heroic Blart. He sets out on the good ship «The Golden Pig» with Olaf the innocent – who believes what everyone says all the time – and Kupverstich the Strange – an explorer-come-scientist whose ingenious explanations for the natural world have one thing in common: they’re all wrong. They must battle cut-throat pirates, a sixteen-tentacled octopus, escape the suffocating bureaucracy of Triplicat, where they are briefly marooned, not to mention evade the Guild of Assassins, who have a contract to kill Blart, in their selfless (well, almost) bid to rescue poor Lois. But will they make it in time?