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Biography and Memoir May 2019
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More than just a good life : the authorised biography of Richard Briers
by James Hogg
The authorised biography of Richard Briers, best known for his role as Tom Good from BBC sitcom "The Good Life". The term 'national treasure' has seldom been more appropriate. Richard Briers was not only the nation's favourite next-door neighbour thanks to his work in "The Good Life", he was an actor you felt like you really knew, despite having only seen him on stage or screen. While his role as Tom Good might be considered the pinnacle of Richard's sixty-year career, it sits atop a mountain of roles that combined represent one of the most productive and varied careers in British entertainment history. Indeed, Richard's television work alone makes up a significant portion of our country's best endeavours on the small screen.
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The stranger on the bridge : my journey from despair to hope
by Jonny Benjamin
In 2008, twenty year-old Jonny Benjamin stood on Waterloo Bridge, about to jump. A stranger saw his distress and stopped to talk with him - a decision that saved Jonny's life. Fast forward to 2014 and Jonny, together with Rethink Mental Illness launched a campaign with a short video clip so that Jonny could finally thank that stranger who put him on the path to recovery. More than 319 million people around the world followed the search. ITV's breakfast shows picked up the story until the stranger, whose name is Neil Laybourn, was found and - in an emotional and touching moment - the pair re-united and have remained firm friends ever since. "The Stranger on the Bridge" is a memoir of the journey Jonny made both personally, and publicly to not only find the person who saved his life, but also to explore how he got to the bridge in the first place and how he continues to manage his diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder.
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The shoemaker and his daughter : one ordinary family's remarkable journey from Stalin's Soviet Union to Putin's Russia
by Conor O'Clery
The Shoemaker and His Daughter" takes in more than eighty years of Soviet and Russian history through the prism of one family - a family author Conor O'Clery knows well - he is married to Zhanna. It paints a vivid picture of a complex part of the world at a seismic moment in its history- of erratic war and uneasy peace; of blind power and its frequent abuse; of misguided ideologies and stifling bureaucracy; of the slow demise of Communism and the chaotic embrace of capitalism. The Suvorovs witness it all. Both intimate and sweeping in scale, this is a story of ordinary lives battered and shaped by extraordinary times.
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Fatherhood : stories about being a dad
by William McInnes
Whenever we drove past a cemetery, Dad would say, 'Did you know this is the dead centre of town?' William McInnes, one of Australia's best-known storytellers and actors, has turned to a subject that is close to his heart. Fatherhood is about family, about memories of his father and the memories he's creating as a dad himself, with his own son and daughter. Warm, witty and nostalgic, these tales are just like a friendly chat over the back fence, or the banter of a backyard BBQ. They will stir your own memories: of hot summer days and cooling off under the sprinkler while Dad works in the garden with the radio tuned to the sports results; that time Dad tried to teach you to drive - and then got out of the car and kissed the ground; or taking your own kids on a family road trip. Fatherhood is full of memories: the happy, the hilarious, the sad, bad, and the unexpectedly poignant moments. You will laugh, you may even cry - but you will recognise yourself and those you love somewhere in these pages.
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A landscape legacy
by John Brookes
It is no exaggeration to say that John Brookes transformed twentieth-century garden design, not only in his native Britain but throughout the world. He fundamentally changed the way people think about their gardens. Today, nearly fifty years on, he emphasizes the importance of reconciling nature and the character of a landscape with the needs and visions of the people living in it. Over those fifty years he has designed gardens - and taught garden design - in the United States, Canada and South America, in Russia and Japan, in Iran and Kashmir, and all over Europe - always consulting the vernacular of an area, its materials and how they are used, as well as its plants . Now, John Brookes tells the story of his life and work and reflects on how his thinking about garden design, and design generally, has developed.
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| Driving Miss Norma: One Family's Journey Saying "Yes" to Living by Tim Bauerschmidt and Ramie Liddle Two days after her husband of sixty-seven years died, nonagenarian Miss Norma was diagnosed with cancer. When told about her treatment options - surgery, chemo and radiotherapy - she rose to her full five feet and said in the strongest voice she could muster: 'I'm ninety years old. I'm hitting the road!' Driving Miss Norma is the story of her inspirational road trip across the US in a thirty-six-foot motorhome with her son, Tim, his wife, Ramie and their Poodle, Ringo - showing us that it's never too late to begin an adventure, inspire hope or become a trailblazer. |
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Lone rider : the first British woman to motorcycle around the world
by Elspeth Beard
In the early 1980s, after finishing her architecture degree and splitting up with her boyfriend, Elspeth Beard set off (almost on a whim) to ride her BMW motorcycle around the world, a feat that very few men and no woman had by then achieved. Two and a half years later, Elspeth returned to London several stones lighter, decades wiser, feeling triumphant. But when Elspeth returned home, no one wanted to know. Her mother asked her to pop out for a pint of milk. Her friends found it hard to relate to her adventures. But now, of course, her journey seems extraordinary. In an age before email, the Internet, mobile phones, satnavs, medevacs and, in some parts of the world, readily available, reliable paper maps, Elspeth achieved something that would still look remarkable today. Barely out of her teens, she did it all solo. No sponsors - just the money she earned in a pub summer job and along the road. No support - just her wit and determination allied to a tent, a few clothes and some tools strapped to her bike.
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| In Other Words by Jhumpa LahiriAt heart, this is a love story -- of a long and sometimes difficult courtship, and a passion that verges on obsession: that of a writer for another language. For Jhumpa Lahiri, that love was for Italian, which first captivated and capsized her during a trip to Florence after college. Although Lahiri studied Italian for many years afterward, true mastery always eluded her. Seeking full immersion, she decides to move to Rome with her family, for "a trial by fire, a sort of baptism" into a new language and world. There, she begins to read, and to write -- initially in her journal -- solely in Italian. "In Other Words", an autobiographical work written in Italian, investigates the process of learning to express oneself in another language, and describes the journey of a writer seeking a new voice. |
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