Little, Brown and Company

The third novel in Alexander McCall Smith's irresistibly charming series about the residents of 44 Scotland Street.

A new, accessible selection of brilliant and essential reading from one of America`s modern masters.

A Christmas market in a snowy German village, an intimate French street lined with holiday lights, a photo tour of Christmas across America – all of this and more comes to life in «Christmas Around the World». With fourteen pages of stunning pop-ups, pullouts, and booklets about celebrations in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Latin America, Russia, Scandinavia, and the United States – as well as a working Advent calendar and a charming three-dimensional Santa's sleigh – this interactive book is an irresistible gift for anyone who loves the rich traditions of Christmas. The book features 65 color illustrations, 60 photos, and 11 booklets, with a magnificent Christmas pop-up on each page.

The hilarious (and ever so slightly sacrilegious) true story of the New Testament.

The first instalment of a fast-paced fantasy duology, brimming with action and adventure.

»Christopher Moore is a very sick man, in the very best sense of the word» Carl Hiaasen.

From the internationally bestselling author of «The Birth Of Venus», comes a breathtaking historical novel about love, beauty, the politics of sex and the power of loyalty set in Venice, one of the world`s most spectacular cities, featuring a fabulous cou.

In this sequel to PALIMPSEST, Gore Vidal ranges freely over his remarkable life with his signature wit and literary elegance.

Are the characteristics of an adult killer or his victim visible in the playground or at the school disco? Or are the roots of a motive for murder seeded there? With characteristic brio and humour, Christopher Brookmyre investigates.

I stuck my finger under the edge of the paper and jerked it under the tape. ‘Shoot’, I muttered when the paper sliced my finger. A single drop of blood oozed from the tiny cut. It all happened very quickly then. ‘No!’ Edward roared… Dazed and disorientated, I looked up from the bright red blood pulsing out of my arm — and into the fevered eyes of the six suddenly ravenous vampires. For Bella Swan, there is one thing more important than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is more dangerous than Bella ever could have imagined. Edward has already rescued Bella from the clutches of an evil vampire but now, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them, they realise their troubles may just be beginning…

When 17 year old Isabella Swan moves to Forks, Washington to live with her father she expects that her new life will be as dull as the town. But in spite of her awkward manner and low expectations, she finds that her new classmates are drawn to this pale, dark-haired new girl in town. But not, it seems, the Cullen family. These five adopted brothers and sisters obviously prefer their own company and will make no exception for Bella. Bella is convinced that Edward Cullen in particular hates her, but she feels a strange attraction to him, although his hostility makes her feel almost physically ill. He seems determined to push her away — until, that is, he saves her life from an out of control car. Bella will soon discover that there is a very good reason for Edward’s coldness. He, and his family, are vampires — and he knows how dangerous it is for others to get too close.

Elizabeth Glendinning QC has lost faith in the legal system. In an attempt to restore it, she has secretly devised a scheme to bring back to court a guilty man — Graham Riley — whom she had successfully defended some ten years before. As part of an elaborate contingency plan, Elizabeth leaves the unsuspecting Father Anselm with a key to a safety deposit box, to be opened in the event of her death. Three weeks later she is found dead in the East End of London and, once the box has been opened, a chain of events is triggered as if from beyond the grave, leading Anselm to fulfil what Elizabeth has begun. A powerful portrait of the dark heart of London and a tense thriller, «The Gardens of the Dead» confirms William Brodrick’s growing critical reputation.

Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy. A little hapless, somewhat neurotic, more of a Beta than an Alpha Male. Charlie's been lucky, though. He owns a building in the heart of San Francisco, and runs a second-hand store with the help of a couple of loyal, if marginally insane, employees. He's married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normality. And she, Rachel, is about to have their first child. But normal service is about to be interrupted. As Charlie prepares to go home after the birth, he sees a strange man dressed in mint-green at Rachel's hospital bedside — a man who claims that no one should be able to see him. But see him Charlie does, and from here on out, things get really weird... People start dropping dead around him, giant ravens perch on his building, and it seems that everywhere he goes, a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Strange names start appearing on his nightstand notepad, and before he knows it, those people end up dead, too. Yep, it seems that Charlie Asher has been recruited for a new job, an unpleasant but utterly necessary one: Death. It's a dirty job. But hey, somebody's gotta do it.

Moving back through the 1940s, through air raids, blacked out streets, illicit liaisons, sexual adventure, to end with its beginning in 1941, The Night Watch is the work of a truly brilliant and compelling storyteller. This is the story of four Londoners — three women and a young man with a past, drawn with absolute truth and intimacy. Kay, who drove an ambulance during the war and lived life at full throttle, now dresses in mannish clothes and wanders the streets with a restless hunger, searching... Helen, clever, sweet, much-loved, harbours a painful secret ... Viv, glamour girl, is stubbornly, even foolishly loyal, to her soldier lover... Duncan, an apparent innocent, has had his own demons to fight during the war. Their lives, and their secrets connect in sometimes startling ways. War leads to strange alliances... Tender, tragic and beautifully poignant, set against the backdrop of feats of heroism both epic and ordinary, here is a novel of relationships that offers up subtle surprises and twists. The Night Watch is thrilling. A towering achievement.

Few American lives are stranger or wilder than that of Hunter S. Thompson. Born a rebel in Kentucky, Thompson spent a lifetime channelling his energy into such landmark works as «Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas» — and his provocative style revolutionised writing. Now, for the first time ever, Jann Wenner and Corey Seymour have interviewed Thompson's friends, family and colleagues and woven their memories into a brilliant oral biography. From Hell's Angels leader Sonny Barger, to Ralph Steadman, to Jack Nicholson, more than 100 members of Thompson's inner circle bring into vivid focus the life of a man who was more complicated and talented than any previous portrait has shown. It's all here: the creative frenzies, the love affairs, the drugs, booze and guns, and, ultimately, the tragic suicide. As Thompson was fond of saying, «Buy the ticket, take the ride».

When John met Savannah, he knew he was ready to turn over a new leaf. Always the angry rebel, he had dropped out of school and enlisted in the Army, not knowing what else to do with his life. Then he meets Savannah. The attraction is mutual and quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah vowing to wait for John while he finishes his tour of duty. What neither realises is that 9/11 will change everything, prompting John to re-enlist and fulfil what he feels is his duty to his country and fellow soldiers. And, sadly, as so often happens when lovers are young and separations are long, Savannah falls in love with someone else. 'Dear John...' the letter reads, and both their lives are changed forever. Years later, when John returns to North Carolina, he must come to grips with the fact that Savannah, now married, is still the only one for him. Now John must make the hardest decision of his life...

Bella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Bella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Bella, the person Edward holds most dear. Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite.

Infamous poet Lord Byron comes to life with incendiary brilliance in this spellbinding blend of gothic imagination and documented fact. Wandering in the mountains of Greece, the supreme sensualist is drawn to the beauty of a mysterious fugitive slave; soon he is utterly entranced, and his fate is sealed. He embarks on a life of adventure even his genius could not have foreseen; chosen to enjoy powers beyond those any vampire has ever known, Byron traverses the centuries and enters a dark, intoxicating world of long-lost secrets, ancient arts and scorching excesses of evil. But Byron's gift is also his torment: an all-consuming thirst that withers life at the root, damning all those he loves. With its impeccable scholarship and breathtaking storytelling, THE VAMPYRE is a wonderful combination of fact and fantasy.

Luke Mullen, sixteen-year-old son of a former high-ranking police officer, has disappeared, presumed kidnapped. While no-one quite dares to voice the fear that he could also be presumed dead, Detective Inspector Tom Thorne is brought in to beef up the squad dedicated to locating the missing boy. The first thing the team looks for is anyone with a grudge against Luke's father, a man who has put a lot of tough villains away in his time. A list quickly emerges, but Thorne discovers that ex-DCI Tony Mullen has omitted the name of the most obvious suspect: a man who'd once threatened him and his family and who, after serving time for his original crime, is now the main suspect in a murder which has been unsolved for four years. Is this a simple oversight, understandable considering the trauma of his son's disappearance? Or is it something more telling? Aware that he hasn't the luxury of time, Thorne searches desperately for connections and leads, but learns that secrets are as easily buried as bodies, and that assumptions are the enemies of truth.

Adam Miller had a long war, and when the US Army let him go he made his way to Venice where his mother was trying to recreate her pre-war life. Exhausted both in body and spirit the pace of the ancient city began to heal him, and when he met Claudia, an Italian Jewess, he was ripe for seduction. Claudia's war had been worse, and after Mussolini's downfall she was quickly betrayed to the SS. While she survived, her father didn't, and to her horror she discovers that the man who was responsible for them being sent to the camp is about to become her new lover's step-father. In a violent confrontation Adam and Claudia are left needing to create an unbreakable alibi, which they do, but to uphold it Adam must establish what really happened to these people and in doing so exposes the ambiguity of morality in peace and in war, and has to grapple with the questions of what is good or evil, what is right or wrong, and does truth really matter?

Jenny Humphrey arrived at elite Waverly Academy with dreams of turning herself into the sophisticated, awe-inspiring Jenny she's always wanted to be. And it's finally, finally happening! She's even rooming with the two most popular girls in school, Callie Vernon and Brett Messerschmidt, and bunking in the notorious Tinsley Carmichael's old bed. Coolness is rubbing off on her, even while she sleeps! Okay, so Callie almost got Jenny kicked out of Waverly on her first night there, but there's a bright side. Like Callie's shaggy-haired boyfriend, Easy Walsh, who just can't seem to focus on his girlfriend anymore. Now everyone is gossiping about boyfriend-stealing Jenny. They can't help but whisper: Jenny's it. But who's that flying in on her seaplane? After getting expelled last year, Tinsley's back and she's not about to let some big-chested, rosy-cheeked city-girl get all the attention. And she's certainly not going to let Callie and Brett forget that she took the fall for them. Now it's their turn. Is Waverly big enough for Jenny, Callie, Brett, and Tinsley? They're all beautiful, captivating, and a little bit crazy, but there can be only one It Girl.

When Jenny Humphrey arrived at Waverly Academy, the student body immediately started buzzing about her and her body. She quickly caught the eye of three of the hottest guys on campus, kissed two of them, and made one her boyfriend: the adorable Easy Walsh. Too bad Easy just happened to belong to somebody else — Jenny's roommate, Callie Vernon. It didn't take long for powerful Tinsley Carmichael to tell Callie their sweet-faced new roommate was really a manipulative skank. So what if Tinsley herself stole a guy out from under their other roommate Brett Messerschmidt's perky little nose? Then Callie and Tinsley threw Jenny and Brett out of their ultra-exclusive club. And just like that, it was war. Now the four roommates have been split up across enemy lines — Jenny and Callie are living together in Dumbarton 303, and Brett and Tinsley are seemingly miles away downstairs. What will happen when Easy sneaks in to see Jenny... but finds Callie instead? And what if Brett discovers the one secret Tinsley's kept hidden for years? Everyone at Waverly is watching and whispering. With girls this wild, anything can happen, but only one can be it.

A riotous collection of memoirs which explores the absurd hilarity of modern life and creates a wickedly incisive portrait of an all-too-familiar world. It takes Sedaris from his humiliating bout with obsessive behaviour in 'A Plague of Tics' to the title story, where he is finally forced to face his naked self in the company of lunatics. At this soulful and moving moment, he brushes cigarette ashes from his pubic hair and wonders what it all means. This remarkable journey into his own life follows a path of self-effacement and a lifelong search for identity leaving himself both under suspicion and over dressed.

Adopted as a baby, Vicky McCarthy's curiosity about where she came from has finally got the better of her: she wants to trace her birth mother. If that doesn't cause friction enough, there's a new face to contend with at work: Ed O'Neill, whom Vicky is convinced is being groomed for her job as manager of Dublin toyshop Toys Galore. Sal, Vicky's go- getting best friend, thinks Ed is gorgeous, and that if Vicky doesn't bag him, she will. But Vicky is going out with Marti, manager of an up — and-coming boy band, with a six-year-old son and complications of his own... Something Borrowed is the brilliant fourth novel from Tina Reilly: a fresh, frank, funny tale of loves lost and found.