'More than 300 million people in the world speak English and the rest, it sometimes seems, try to...' Only Bill Bryson could make a book about the English language so entertaining. With his boundless enthusiasm and restless eye for the absurd, this is his astonishing tour of English. From its mongrel origins to its status as the world's most-spoken tongue; its apparent simplicity to its deceptive complexity; its vibrant swearing to its uncertain spelling and pronunciation, Bryson covers all this as well as the many curious eccentricities that make it as maddening to learn as it is flexible to use. Bill Bryson's classic Mother Tongue is a highly readable and hilarious tale of how English came to be the world's language.

«This is a brilliant new book from the bestselling author of «The Tipping Point» and «Blink». Why are people successful? For centuries, humankind has grappled with this question, searching for the secret to accomplishing great things. In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an invigorating intellectual journey to show us what makes an extreme overachiever. He reveals that we pay far too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where successful people are from: their culture, their family, and their generation. Gladwell examines how the careers of Bill Gates and the performance of world-class football players are alike; what top fighter pilots and The Beatles have in common; why so many top lawyers are Jewish; why Asians are good at maths; and why it is correct to say that the mathematician who solved Fermat's Theorem is not a genius. Just as he did in «Blink», Gladwell overturns many of our conventional notions and creates an entirely new model for seeing the world. Brilliant and entertaining, this is a landmark work that will simultaneously delight and illuminate.»

At 66 Star Street in Dublin, someone is watching over the lives of the people living in its flats. But no one is aware of it — yet... One of them is ready to take the plunge and fall in love; another is torn between two very different lovers. For some, secrets will come to light, which for others will have tragic consequences.

The scar on Rhoda Gradwyn's face was to be the death of her... When the notorious investigative journalist, Rhoda Gradwyn, books into Mr Chandler-Powell's private clinic in Dorset for the removal of a disfiguring and long-standing scar, she has every prospect of a successful operation and the beginning of a new life. But the Manor holds a secret and deadly enemy. While she lies drowsily recovering from the anaesthetic a white-shrouded figure stealthily enters her bedroom and within minutes Rhoda is dead. Dalgliesh and his team, called in to investigate the murder, and later a second equally horrific death, find themselves confronted with problems even more complicated than the question of innocence or guilt.

The most curious, funny, insightful, and expressive invectives from more than forty languages — fully illustrated, you miserable misokakku.

Hero Jarvis, reform-minded daughter of the Prince Regent's cousin, enlists Sebastian St. Cyr's help in investigating the brutal murders of eight prostitutes by a killer whose ominous plot threatens to shake the nation to its very core.

This is Bulgakov's surreal tale of a Moscow doctor who befriends a stray dog and performs on it a human transplant — with disastrous consequences.

«'As good as anything he has written... one of Self's grisliest creations. There is no contemporary writer of fiction more perceptive about psychosis' — «Financial Times». 'Self's enjoyable, intelligent collection of savage stories is splendidly satiric. The title story is a brilliant novella that tells of dueling psychiatrists who use mental patients as weapons. You laugh, but you also flinch' — «Scotsman». 'A destabilizing, funny, abundantly Gothic tour de force' — «Guardian».»

Presents a story of endurance, as one man — plucked from his normal, everyday life — is forced to reach deep inside himself to survive life in one of the bleakest outposts in the world: Russia's vast and unforgiving 'forgotten zone'.

«Distinguished by Smith's trademark ability to unearth flashes of truth and depth in the everyday, «The First Person and Other Stories» sparkles with warmth and humanity. In one story, a middle-aged woman conducts a poignant conversation with her fourteen-year-old self. In another, an innocent supermarket shopper finds in her trolley a foul-mouthed, insulting, yet beautiful child. And in a third story that challenges the boundaries between fiction and reality, the narrator, 'Ali', drinks tea, phones a friend, and muses on the surprising similarities between a short story and a nymph... Fans of Ali Smith will be delighted, amused and moved by these stories from a writer at the very top of her game.»

«Jamie will try real American food and meet the most interesting cooks and producers that this vast country has to offer. His epic journey will take him to the heart of America: its people, culture, music and, most importantly, its food. Along the way Jamie will be getting his hands dirty — meeting hunters, cowboys, fishermen and local producers — as he finds out about the best (and strangest) ingredients on offer. He won't just be sampling, he'll be getting involved: entering a gumbo 'throw-down' in Louisiana, fishing in California and sampling bison in Montana as he joins life on a ranch. As well as being a visually stunning journey, «Jamie's America» is a practical cookbook, with each chapter focusing on the food and recipes of a different state. And the food will be as varied as the landscapes — from spicy Mexican in the desert to freshly caught Alaskan salmon. With 120 brand new recipes, and Jamie's diary narrative running alongside, this will be a celebratory cookbook of a country with a wide food heritage.»

Love stories are not always about hearts and flowers. In this deliciously different celebration of love, romance is all about having a good row (and not always having to say you're sorry). From trivial everyday quarrels, such as a dispute over a bride's new hat in Dorothy Parker's 'Here We Are' and an argument about whether to close the screen door in Lydia Davis's 'Disagreement', to more serious arguments where the truth is in doubt, such in Raymond Carver's 'Intimacy', relationships of every kind — devoted, comfortable, passionate, intimate, bad-tempered — are here.

A portrayal of egos, appetites and addictions. It presents an examination of lives out of control and beyond saving by the pre-eminent chronicler of our neuroses and our times.

Fern is glaring thirty in the face and can't ignore the love lies any longer. Life with Adam was amazing once — although these days swinging from the chandeliers means DIY not SEX. She believes a romantic wedding should be the next step but Adam just won't go down on one knee.

When the author of The Hayseed Chronicles, Arthur Hayman, is mown down by a concrete truck in Soho, his legacy passes to his widow, Martha, and her children — the fragile Rachel, and Luke, reluctantly immortalised as Luke Hayseed, the central character of his father's books. But others want their share, particularly Laurie.

Professor Timofey Pnin, previously of Tsarist Russia, is now precariously positioned at the heart of campus America. Battling with American life and language, Pnin must face great hazards in this new world.

The Queen of Spades, one of his most popular and chilling short stories, tells of an inveterate card player who develops a dangerous obsession with the secret of an old lady's luck, which he believes will bring him the wealth he craves. The Negro of Peter the Great, a story based on the life Pushkin's own great-grandfather, is a vivid depiction — and criticism — of both French and Russian society, while Dubrovsky is the Byronic tale of a dispossessed young officer. The Captain's Daughter tells of a young man sent to military service — based on the actual events of the rebellion against Catherine II, it demonstrates Pushkin's unparalleled skill at blending fiction and history. Together these four stories display the versatility and innovation that earned Pushkin his reputation as a master of prose and established him as the towering figure in Russian literature.

«The «New York Times» — bestselling author of «Just Listen» explores the heart of a gutsy, complex girl dealing with unforeseen circumstances and learning to trust again.»

Brandy was in big trouble — on Monday he killed a bird, on Tuesday a mouse and on Wednesday he dragged a dead rabbit through the catflap. This caused pandemonium for Ellie and her parents as it was their neighbour's pet rabbit, Thumper.

What makes a house a home? For Eve Gallagher, home is miles away in England since she and her husband relocated to an apartment building on New York's Upper East Side. And life isn't remotely coming up roses. What makes a neighbour a friend? Violet has lived in the building for decades but she's always kept herself apart.