Sparky Sweets, Ph.D. and Wisecrack present Thug Notes, the outrageously funny, ultra-sharp guide to sixteen of literature s most beloved classics including The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, Pride & Prejudice and Things Fall Apart. Having already taught millions around the world, Dr. Sweets makes it easy to love and understand these important literary works. With hilarious character breakdowns, masterful analyses, witty observations, and eye-popping illustrations, Thug Notes is a brilliant blend of high-brow wisdom and street-smart humor. Whether you re a student, teacher, or dropout, Thug Notes will ensure you never look at literature the same way again.

From Salman Rushdie, one of the great writers of our time, comes a spellbinding novel that blends history, mythology, and a timeless love story. A lush modern fairytale in which our world has been plunged into an age of unreason, Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights is a breathtaking achievement and an enduring testament to the power of storytelling.

At long last, Sarah Britton, called the queen bee of the health blogs by Bon Appetit, reveals 100 gorgeous, all-new plant-based recipes in her debut cookbook, inspired by her wildly popular blog. Every month, two million readers — vegetarians, vegans, paleo followers, and gluten-free gourmets alike — flock to Sarah's adaptable and accessible recipes that make powerfully healthy ingredients simply irresistible. My New Roots is the ultimate guide to revitalizing one's health and palate, one delicious recipe at a time: no fad diets or gimmicks here. Whether readers are newcomers to natural foods or are already devotees, they will discover how easy it is to eat healthfully and happily when whole foods and plants are at the center of every plate.

Llama Llama's tale of nighttime drama has charmed readers as a classic hardcover for a full decade. For the first time, Anna Dewdney's infectious rhyming text and expressive artwork are available for the youngest of readers in this board book edition.

When catastrophe strikes Arkham Asylum, where will Gotham City house the world's most dangerous criminals? And when inmates are found murdered, what is Batman prepared to do in search of justice? Arkham's madness comes home in Arkham Manor, brought to you by Gerry Duggan (Deadpool, Nova) and Shawn Crystal (Deadpool, Wolverine and the X-Men). It collects Arkham Manor numbered 1-6.

From Chrissie Hynde, one of rock's most iconic, alluring, kick-ass, and (let's face it) sexy women, a brilliant, no-holds-barred memoir of a rock life lived to the hilt. Chrissie Hynde, the songwriter and frontwoman of The Pretenders in its various incarnations, has for thirty-five years been one of the most admired and adored and imitated figures in rock. This long-awaited memoir tells her life story in full and utterly fascinating detail, from her all-American Ohio fifties childhood to her classic baby-boomer seduction by the rock of the sixties to her sojourn in the crucible of punk that was seventies London to her instant emergence with her band, The Pretenders, in 1980 into stardom as a frontwoman and songwriter. She brings a fantastic eye for detail, a withering and sardonic sense of humor, and a fearless and sometimes naked emotional honesty to her memoir, and every line, every word of it is unmistakably hers. It is sure to be recognized as a classic of rock literature — and, man, is it fun to read.

The visual landscape of the BBC's Sherlock is rich and complex. The Mind Palace is a unique celebration of that world, featuring over 50 intricate pieces of artwork for fans to colour in, including classic scenes, intricate interiors and beautifully illustrated cast shots. For the first time, fans can personalise this world by adding colour to dramatic London skylines, redesigning the interior of 221b Baker street, and completing incredibly detailed cast illustrations. With visually stunning original black and white illustrations by artist Mike Collins, this is an opportunity for fans to create their own mind palace and a perfect gift for the Sherlock fan on your list.

One snowy day in Copenhagen, six-year-old Isaiah falls to his death from a city rooftop. The police pronounce it an accident. But Isaiah's neighbour, Smilla, suspects murder.She embarks on a dangerous quest to find the truth, following a path of clues as clear to her as footsteps in the snow.

Oswald T. Campbell, aged fifty-two, down-and-out in a Chicago winter, is given only months to live unless he moves South... He finds himself in the small town of Lost River, Alabama, where the residents are friendly if feud-prone and eccentric to a fault. One of them, Roy, keeps a red cardinal, a once wounded bird called Jack. Patsy, a sad, sweet little kid with a crippled leg, from the trailer park up in the woods, takes to dropping by the store — and falls in love with Jack. Flagg takes us on an emotional roller-coaster ride through the lives and hearts of an engaging crew of misfits, fixers and ordinary good-hearted folk, set against the vivid natural backdrop of a mellow Alabama winter.

Powerful contemporary novel set in London from a master of literary fiction. THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER London, the week before Christmas, 2007. Seven wintry days to track the lives of seven characters: a hedge fund manager trying to bring off the biggest trade of his career; a professional footballer recently arrived from Poland; a young lawyer with little work and too much time to speculate; a student who has been led astray by Islamist theory; a hack book-reviewer; a schoolboy hooked on skunk and reality TV; and a Tube driver whose Circle Line train joins these and countless other lives together in a daily loop. With daring skill, the novel pieces together the complex patterns and crossings of modern urban life, and the group is forced, one by one, to confront the true nature of the world they inhabit. Sweeping, satirical, Dickensian in scope, A Week in December is a thrilling state of the nation novel from a master of literary fiction.

A selection of the best of Dickens' Christmas stories and writings in one beautiful edition It is said that Charles Dickens invented Christmas, and these pages certainly hold all the elements of a quintessential traditional Christmas brought to vivid life: snowy rooftops, gleaming shop windows, steaming bowls of punch, plum puddings like speckled cannon balls, sage and onion stuffing, miracles, magic, charity, and goodwill. This elegant collection gathers together not only Dickens' Christmas Books but also stories that Dickens wrote for the special seasonal editions of his periodicals All the Year Round and Household Words, and the hilarious festive episodes from The Pickwick Papers. A must-have for Christmas, this book is as necessary to seasonal festivities as holly, mistletoe, and silver bells.

The story of a forbidden book that became a symbol of freedom and rebellion in the battle between East and West. 1956. Boris Pasternak presses a manuscript into the hands of an Italian publishing scout with these words: This is Doctor Zhivago. May it make its way around the world. Pasternak knew his novel would never be published in the Soviet Union as the authorities regarded it as seditious, so, instead, he allowed it to be published in translation all over the world — a highly dangerous act. 1958. The life of this extraordinary book enters the realms of the spy novel. The CIA, recognising that the Cold War was primarily an ideological battle, published Doctor Zhivago in Russian and smuggled it into the Soviet Union. It was immediately snapped up on the black market. Pasternak was later forced to renounce the Nobel Prize in Literature, igniting worldwide political scandal. With first access to previously classified CIA files, The Zhivago Affair gives an irresistible portrait of Pasternak, and takes us deep into the Cold War, back to a time when literature had the power to shake the world. This is a Spectator and Sunday Times Book of the Year.

At the age of twenty-three, Charlie Mason is endowed with good looks, good manners and a happy disposition. Following three years at Cambridge and one in his father's business, he is now looking forward to a jaunt in Paris with Simon Fenimore, his oldest friend.Yet Paris is not what he expects. And in just a few days his young eyes are opened to the horror and ugly drama of its underworld. Published before the outbreak of war in 1939, Maugham's purpose in Christmas Holiday was to warn the complacent, insular British middle-class of the immense upheavals taking place on the Continent.

In the wake of the death of his son Damian, Batman is in danger of losing his humanity. However, the foes of this grief-ridden Dark Knight mean to strike him when he's at his weakest. Has Batman's worst foe become... Bruce Wayne? Plus, three pivotal chapters from the epic Zero Year storyline! From the critically acclaimed, New York Times (numbered) 1 best-selling creative team of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo comes the next genre-defining graphic novel in their monumental run. This title collects Batman numbered 0, numbered 18-20, numbered 28, numbered 34, and Batman Annual numbered 2.

Everybody's favourite truck-fitting, road-racing, TV-presenting, No 1 bestselling author, Guy Martin takes you on an action-packed ride through a year in his life. Get behind the scenes, into the pits and under the engines, up close and personal with Guy, telling it like only he knows how. Brimming with entertaining stories, daring exploits and unusual mishaps, accompanied by personal photos from Guy's phone, this month-by-month diary covers a typically full-throttle year — from the 24-hour Solo World Mountain Bike Championship to the Isle of Man TT and lots of adventures in mountain and motor biking, spannering, engineering and tea drinking in-between. Always grafting, always looking for the next extreme experience to test himself, whether it's building a wall of death in his back garden, going flat out at the Isle of Man TT, motorbike trekking across India, racing through the night at Le Mans, fixing a Scania V8 or stopping for a brew with Valentino Rossi, follow Guy's adventures as he lives life at full speed.

In this new Hellblazer collection, John Constantine comes to the aid of his downstairs neighbor, a dimwitted, epileptic giant whose home is haunted by a persistent ghost. Plus, John's affinity with the supernatural spoils a soccer game when a demon that thrives on holloganism shows up. And in the story Difficult Beginnings, Constantine must reconnect with the darker side of his own nature — a journey that leads him to the most evil man in the world.

Soon to be a Syfy miniseries event Childhood's End is one of the defining legacies of Arthur C. Clarke, the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey and many other groundbreaking works. Since its publication in 1953, this prescient novel about first contact gone wrong has come to be regarded not only as a science fiction classic but as a literary thriller of the highest order. Space ships have suddenly appeared in the skies above every city on the planet. Inside is an intellectually, technologically, and militarily superior alien race known as the Overlords. At first, their demands seem benevolent: unify Earth, eliminate poverty, end war. But at what cost? To those who resist, it's clear that the Overlords have an agenda of their own. Has their arrival marked the end of humankind... or the beginning? Praise for Childhood's End A first-rate tour de force. The New York Times Frighteningly logical, believable, and grimly prophetic... Clarke is a master. Los Angeles Times There has been nothing like it for years; partly for the actual invention, but partly because here we meet a modern author who understands that there may be things that have a higher claim on humanity than its own survival. C. S. Lewis As a science fiction writer, Clarke has all the essentials.