«From a celebrity performer, bestselling author of «Popcorn» and «Inconceivable», a stunning satire on the modern obsession with fame. One house. Ten contestants. Thirty cameras. Forty microphones. Yet again the public gorges its voyeuristic appetite as another group of unknown and unremarkable people submit themselves to the brutal exposure of the televised real-life soap opera, House Arrest. Everybody knows the rules: total strangers are forced to live together while the rest of the country watches them do it. Who will crack first? Who will have sex with whom? Who will the public love and who will they hate? All the usual questions. And then suddenly, there are some new ones. Who is the murderer? How did he or she manage to kill under the constant gaze of the thirty cameras? Why did they do it? And who will be next?»

«This week the first pet passports came into effect. Around the country dogs have been hopping into photo booths and trying to look as relaxed as possible, which is not easy when you know you're not allowed on the chair». Gathered here are the best of John O'Farrell's newspaper columns for «The Guardian» and «The Independent», which saw him win the coveted Best Columnist of the Year Award at the prestigious British Liars Awards. Among many other things, he claims that the only conviction in the Tory Party was when Jeffrey Archer got sent to prison; that scientists have created a genetically superior monkey which will advertise lapsang souchong instead of PG Tips; and that with the election of George W. Bush, the global village has finally got its own global village idiot.»

Time is a resource. Everyone knows it has to be managed. And on the Discworld that is the job of the Monks of History, who store it and pump it from the places where it's wasted (like the underwater — how much time does a codfish need?) to places like cities, where there's never enough time. But the construction of the world's first truly accurate clock starts a race against, well, time for Lu Tze and his apprentice Lobsang Ludd. Because it will stop time. And that will only be the start of everyone's problems. Thief Of Time comes complete with a full supporting cast of heroes, villains, yetis, martial artists and Ronnie, the fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse (who left before they became famous).

«Bill Bryson goes to Kenya at the invitation of CARE International, the charity dedicated to working with local communities to eradicate poverty around the world. Kenya, generally regarded as the cradle of mankind, is a land of contrasts, with famous game reserves, stunning landscapes, and a vibrant cultural tradition. It also provides plenty to worry a traveller like Bill Bryson, fixated as he is on the dangers posed by snakes, insects and large predators. But on a more sober note, it is a country that shares many serious human and environmental problems with the rest of Africa: refugees, AIDS, drought and grinding poverty. Travelling around the country, Bryson casts his inimitable eye on a continent new to him, and the resultant diary, though short in length, contains the trademark Bryson stamp of wry observation and curious insight. All the author's royalties from «Bill Bryson's African Diary», as well as all profits, will go to CARE International.»

Jack Reacher is adrift in the heat of a Texan summer, hoping to hitch a ride. Carmen is the beautiful, young, rich woman who picks him up. Carmen and her little girl are in trouble. At Carmen's ranch in Echo County, the group encounter hostility, Can Reacher rescue this lady in distress.

When a scientist is found brutally murdered, Harvard professor Robert Langdon is asked to identify the mysterious symbol seared onto the dead man's chest. Realising it must be the work of the Illuminati — an ancient secret brotherhood sworn against Catholicism — the race is on to prevent a tragedy.

«Michael Adams shares a flat with three other men in their late twenties. Days are spent lying in bed, playing computer games and occasionally doing a bit of work. And then, when he feels like it, he crosses the river and goes back to his unsuspecting wife and children. For Michael is living a double life — he escapes from the exhausting misery of babies by telling his wife he has to work through the night or travel up north. And while she is valiantly coping on her own, he is just a few miles away in a secret flat, doing all the things that most men with small children can only dream about. He thinks he can have it all, until is deception is inevitably exposed...»The Best a Man Can Get» is written with the hilarious eye for detail that sent John O'Farrell's first book, «Things Can Only Get Better», to the top of the bestseller lists. It is a darkly comic confessional that is at once compelling, revealing and very, very funny.»

For Rebecca Bloomwood, life is peachy. She has a job on morning TV, telling people how to manage their money – a subject on which she is an expert. Her bank manager is actually being nice to her, despite being just a tad overdrawn. And the icing on the brioche is that her boyfriend is moving to New York …and has asked her to go with him. New York! The Museum of Modern Art! The Guggenheim! The Metropolitan Opera House! And Becky does mean to go to all these. Honestly. It’s just that it seems silly not to check out a few other places first. Like Bloomingdales. And Saks. And that amusing little place she’s been told about where you can sometimes get a Prada dress for $10. Or was it $100? Anyway, it’s full of fantastic bargains. Shopaholic Abroad – because there just aren’t enough shops in Britain.

William just wants to get at the truth. Unfortunately, everyone else wants to get at William. And it’ s only the third edition. William de Worde is the accidental editor of the Discworld’ s first newspaper. Now he must cope with the traditional perils of a journalist’ s life – people who want him dead, a recovering vampire with a suicidal fascination for flash photography, some more people who want him dead in a different way and, worst of all, the man who keeps begging him to publish pictures of his humorously shaped potatoes.

Everyday magic, he called it. The transformation of base matter into the stuff of dreams. Layman’s alchemy.Jay Mackintosh is trapped by memory in the old familiar landscapes of his childhood, more enticing than the present, and to which he longs to return. A bottle of home-brewed wine left to him by a long-vanished friend seems to provide both the key to an old mystery and a doorway into another world. As the unusual properties of the strange brew take effect, Jay escapes to a derelict farmhouse in the French village of Lansquenet, where a ghost from the past waits to confront him, and the reclusive Marise – haunted, lovely and dangerous – hides a terrible secret behind her closed shutters. Between them, a mysterious chemistry. Or could it be magic?

Two women, victims of sexual harassment, left the army under dubious circumstances. Both are now dead. Jack Reacher knew them both. A perfect psychological match, he is arrested, but is released when another woman is murdered. Everyone fears a serial killer is on the loose and Reacher finds himself heavily involved in the investigation.

After tales from the USA and Britain, Bill Bryson turns his roving eye to Australia, the only island that is also a continent and the only continent that is also a country. It is the driest, flattest, most desiccated, infertile and climatically aggressive of all the inhabited continents. It has more things that can kill you in a very nasty way that anywhere else. Yet when Bill Bryson travelled to Australia he promptly fell in love with the country. And who can blame him? The people are cheerful, the cities safe and clean, the food is excellent, the beer is cold and the sun nearly always shines. He tries to find out why Aussies are so cool, digging up a past that reveals convicts, explorers, gold diggers and outlaws.

Jay Mackintosh is trapped by memory in the old familiar landscape of his childhood, to which he longs to return. A bottle of home-brewed wine left to him by a long-vanished friend seems to provide the key to an old mystery. As the unusual properties of the strange brew take effect, Jay escapes to a derelict farmhouse in the French village of Lansquenet. There, a ghost from the past waits to confront him, and the reclusive Marise — haunted, lovely and dangerous — hides a terrible secret behind her closed shutters. Between them, a mysterious chemistry. Or could it be magic?

Nanny Ogg, one of Discworld's most famous witches, here passes on some of her huge collection of tasty and interesting recipes, since everyone else is doing it. In addition to such dishes as Nobby's Mum's Distressed Pudding, Mrs Ogg imparts her thoughts on such matters as life, death and courtship. A Discworld spin-off.

«Sam Vimes is a man on the run. Yesterday he was a duke, a chief of police and the ambassador to the mysterious, fat-rich country of Uberwald. Now, he has nothing but his native wit and the gloomy trousers of Uncle Vanya (don't ask). It's snowing. It's freezing. And if he can't make it through the forest to civilization there's going to be a terrible war. But there are monsters on his trail. They're bright. They're fast. They're werewolves — and they're catching up. «The Fifth Elephant» is Terry Pratchett's latest installment in the «Discworld» cycle, this time starring dwarfs, diplomacy, intrigue and big lumps of fat.»

Try me...Test me...Taste me. When an exotic stranger, Vianne Rocher, arrives in the French village of Lansquenet and opens a chocolate boutique directly opposite the church, Father Reynaud identifies her as a serious danger to his flock — especially as it is the beginning of Lent, the traditional season of self-denial. War is declared as the priest denounces the newcomer's wares as instruments of murder. Suddenly Vianne's shop-cum-cafe means that there is somewhere for secrets to be whispered, grievances to be aired, dreams to be tested. But Vianne's plans for an Easter Chocolate Festival divide the whole community in a conflict that escalates into a 'Church not Chocolate' battle. As mouths water in anticipation, can the solemnity of the Church compare with the pagan passion of a chocolate eclair? For the first time, here is a novel in which chocolate enjoys its true importance, emerging as a moral issue, as an agent of transformation — as well as a pleasure bordering on obsession. Rich, clever and mischievous, this is a triumphant read.

Further episodes in the life of Deric Longden and the Longden household. At least two new characters join the feline cast led by the ever-popular Thermal. The thread running through the book is the interesting experience of watching Lost for Words turn into a television drama, but attached to the thread are the usual wonderful collection of Longden observations of life at home and (not too far) abroad. As usual work suffers constant interruptions from Thermal and Co, but somehow the research gets done. Did you know that Huddersfield has the country's biggest per capita consumption of crinkle-cut chips? And why does two-thirds of all the Benedictine produced get drunk in Bradford?

Jack Reacher is not pleased when Costello, a private detective, comes nosing around asking questions. Determined to keep out of trouble, he conceals his identity. But when Costello is found dead Reacher has two questions: who was Costello's employer, and why is she determined to find him.

From her perch at the top of the stairs, seven-year-old Gabriella watches the guests arrive at her parents lavish Manhattan home. The click, click, click of her mother`s high heels strikes terror into her heart. Her word is a confusing blend of terror, betrayal and pain, and she knows that there is no safe place for her to hide.

«Mightily Oats has not picked a good time to be priest. He thought he'd come to Lancre for a simple ceremony. Now he's caught up in a war between vampires and witches. There's Young Agnes, who is really in two minds about everything — Magrat, who is trying to combine witchcraft and nappies, Nanny Ogg...and Granny Weatherwax, who is big trouble. And the vampires are intelligent. They've got style and fancy waistcoats. They're out of the casket and want a bite of the future. Mightily Oats knows he has a prayer, but he wishes he had an axe. «Carpe Jugulum» is Terry Pratchett's twenty-third «Discworld» novel — but the first to star vampires.»