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Innovation - the process of taking new ideas through to satisfied customers - is the lifeblood of any organization today. Nothing causes a company and the individuals working in it to lose enthusiasm more than a lack of interest in positive change. You cannot stand still: either you go forwards or you move backwards. In Effective Innovation John Adair, Britain's foremost expert on leadership training, looks at both creativity and innovation and tells you everything you need to know to enable you to generate new ideas and bring them to market. Based around Adair's 'seven habits of successful creative thinkers', this landmark book will tell you how to: Generate the best possible ideas from yourself and the people around you Listen and learn - how being curious, keen to learn and observant of others will help you to think in a more imaginative way Use constructive criticism to improve upon existing ideas Filter out those ideas that should not be further progressed Follow up on and implement ideas to best effect
Valerio Massimo Manfredi's Pharaoh is a thrilling archaeological mystery.Jerusalem, 586 BC. The kingdom of Judah is on the verge of annihilation by the Babylonians. In the chaos, the prophet Jeremiah saves the sacred Ark of the Covenant and hides it in a cave. He returns terrified, having made a discovery that appears to have sent him mad.The Middle East, early in the second millennium. Professor William Blake, renowned Egyptologist, has a surprising visit from representatives of an American mining corporation. They have discovered a strange Egyptian tomb, which risks exploding the powder keg of Middle Eastern geopolitics.Blake finds himself facing the most mysterious case of his life. The tomb of the Pharaoh lies in the middle of the desert, miles from the Nile and the Valley of the Kings. As he starts to unravel the Pharaoh's story, a disturbing theory forms in Blake's mind as to the identity of this mysterious ruler - a theory that could destroy the balance of the modern world.
Winner of the first Anthony Award for Best Novel, B is for Burglar is the second in the Kinsey Millhone mystery series by Sue Grafton.Female, age thirty-two, self-employed and wiser than she used to be. For Kinsey Millhone, private investigator, only one thing stays the same. When a client sits down in the chair across the desk, she never knows what's going to happen next . . . There was nothing about Beverly Danziger to cause Kinsey concern. She was looking for her sister. There was a will to be settled. She paid up front. And if it seemed a lot of money for a routine job, Kinsey wasn't going to argue. She kicked herself later for the things she didn't see - Beverly Danziger did not look as if she needed a few thousand dollars and she didn't seem like someone longing for a family reunion. But just as Kinsey begins to suspect foul play and start asking questions, Beverly Danziger pulls her off the case and fires her . . .
Fen works in a bookshop and is devoted to her young son, Connor, but she keeps herself to herself. Haunted by guilt and a terrible secret, Fen lives a compromised life, isolated from her family, far from home and too afraid of the past to risk becoming close to anyone. She is constantly looking over her shoulder, knowing that one day the truth will catch up with her. Sean, on the other hand, is enjoying a seemingly perfect life. He has a successful career, lives in his dream home and adores his beautiful wife, Belle, and their six-year-old daughter, Amy. That is until the day Belle announces she has found someone else and wants Sean to move out. Circumstance throws Fen and Sean together. Slowly their quiet friendship turns into something much deeper and the joy they find in one another eventually gives them the confidence to trust and love again. But will the past tear them apart just as they find happiness?Missing You is a beautifully written tale of family and love, from Louise Douglas, author of The Love of My Life.
'I miss him with every breath and heartbeat. He should have been my happy ending. Instead, he is the sad beginning to my story.' Olivia and Luca Felicone had known each other nearly all their lives, but when they fell in love as teenagers and eloped to London, they broke the hearts of those closest to them. Luca's parents run Marinella's restaurant, the colourful hub of life in the otherwise bleak north-eastern seaside town of Watersford, and his mother, Angela, has never forgiven Olivia for causing such a rift in her beloved family. On a freezing January night Olivia's life is shattered when she learns that Luca has been killed in a car accident on the M1. She is left with nothing, and after suffering from weeks of overwhelming grief, she abandons her job and returns North to where Luca has been buried in Watersford, just to be close to him - even though she knows she will not be welcome at Marinella's. Olivia's chance meeting with Luca's married twin brother, Marc, leads to the realization that he is experiencing a loss almost as painful as her own. Their desolation draws them into an affair which both know has no future, but fills the space where Luca should be. It is a course of action that can only spiral out of control, and when it does, the consequences are both explosive and cruel.The Love of My Life by Louise Douglas is a beautiful novel that portrays both the innocence of childhood, and the dynamics of love and loss with deftness and sensitivity. It is, above all, a stunning debut from an author with a unique and natural narrative voice.
A Richard and Judy Book Club selection.He appears out of the sea, washed up naked, in the treacherous Straits of Gibraltar. Seemingly delirious, and claiming to be Christopher Columbus, he is taken to an insane asylum in Seville, where astonishingly he starts to reveal the true story of how he set sail on behalf of the Spanish queen five hundred years ago. Consuela, a nurse at the Institute, is charged with helping him back to reality. She listens to his fantastic tales in the hope of discovering the truth. But as his story unfolds, she finds herself falling for her patient - no longer able to tell where truth ends and fantasy begins. Meanwhile, across the continent, Emile Germain is involved in a different search. He's an Interpol officer on the hunt for a missing person, presumed dangerous. He's a determined man, and when his investigation leads to Spain these two stories collide. Part romance, part mysterious thriller, Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofimuk is a rich and emotional novel about love, loss, and the fragile beauty of our own life stories.
One of Britain's most popular astrologers, Claire Petulengro has many years experience of advising her clients on how to handle life's highs and lows. Now she shares her knowledge with us all. Whether you are a Pisces who goes dramatically off the rails in response to a problem, or a Scorpio who turns disaster into an opportunity, understanding your sign's strengths and weaknesses will help you deal with life's challenges. Covering love and relationships, this book will help you find and keep your soul mate, work out how to deal with your ex, and understand family and friends. It gives advice on the right careers for you, and how to handle your money - some signs are financially astute, others more likely to fall into debt. It analyses the health issues you may face and how to avoid problems in the future. And it builds your confidence, helping you to see what's good about yourself - and those close to you - on days when life gets you down. Life is unpredictable, but armed with this book you can make your journey through it a fun one.
Richard English's brilliant new book, now available in paperback, is a compelling narrative history of Irish nationalism, in which events are not merely recounted but analysed. Full of rich detail, drawn from years of original research and also from the extensive specialist literature on the subject, it offers explanations of why Irish nationalists have believed and acted as they have, why their ideas and strategies have changed over time, and what effect Irish nationalism has had in shaping modern Ireland. It takes us from the Ulster Plantation to Home Rule, from the Famine of 1847 to the Hunger Strikes of the 1970s, from Parnell to Pearse, from Wolfe Tone to Gerry Adams, from the bitter struggle of the Civil War to the uneasy peace of the early twenty-first century. Is it imaginable that Ireland might - as some have suggested - be about to enter a post-nationalist period? Or will Irish nationalism remain a defining force on the island in future years? 'a courageous and successful attempt to synthesise the entire story between two covers for the neophyte and for the exhausted specialist alike' Tom Garvin, Irish Times
Orphan Molly Moon was found as a baby in a box marked 'Moon's Marshmallows'. For ten miserable years she's lived under the cruel rule of Miss Adderstone in grim Hardwick House. But her life changes overnight when she finds a mysterious book on hypnotism and discovers an amazing talent - the power to make people do anything she want them to. Escaping from the orphange, Molly flies to New York in search of fame and fortune. But her adventures in hypnotism lead her into the clutches of a dangerous enemy . . .
In the first volume of Clive James's autobiography, Unreliable Memoirs, we said farewell to our hero as he set sail from Sydney Harbour, bound for London, fame and fortune. Finding the first of these proved relatively simple; the second two less so. Undaunted, Clive moved into a bed and breakfast in a Swiss Cottage where he practised the Twist, anticipated poetical masterpieces and worried about his wardrobe . . .Falling Towards England is the entertaining and erudite second part in Clive James' life story, which he continues in May Week Was in June, North Face of Soho and The Blaze of Obscurity.
Including Clive James's most memorable pieces - his 'Postcard from Rome', his observations on Margaret Thatcher, his insights into Heaney, Larkin and Orwell - this book also contains brilliantly funny examinations of characters like Barry Humphries, as well as showcasing James's more thoughtful, analytical side. From Germaine Greer to Marilyn Monroe, from the nature of celebrity to German culpability for the Holocaust, Reliable Essays is an unmissable collection from one of the best writers of our time.
The Adultery Club: In an often grey world there are fifty shades of seduction. A wife, a husband, a mistress. Whose side will you be on? Life couldn't be happier for Nicholas Lyon, a divorce lawyer and contented husband of the beautiful Mal, a successful cookery writer and mother to their three gorgeous daughters. And then Sara Kaplan, a bright, vivacious young lawyer, explodes into his life like a sexual hand grenade. At first stunned and horrified by the extent of his attraction to her, a catastrophic event soon forces Nicholas to recognize his own mortality and throw caution to the wind. For Sara, what started as a harmless fling swiftly deepens into a painful battle for Nicholas's heart with Mal, who is not quite as preoccupied in her world of food and school runs as Nicholas had believed. But as Mal faces temptations of her own, she realizes she has to decide what she wants - and whether it's worth fighting for.
Ian Hunt is the police dispatcher for the small town of Bulls Mouth, East Texas. Just as his shift is ending he gets a call from his fourteen-year-old daughter, Maggie. Maggie, who has just been declared dead, having been snatched from her bedroom seven years ago. Her call ends in a scream. The trail leads to a local couple, but this is just the start of his battle to get his daughter back. What follows is a bullet-strewn cross-country chase along Interstate 10, from Texas to California. The riveting novel from Ryan David Jahn, the acclaimed author of Acts of Violence and Low Life, The Dispatcher is a brilliantly original, blood drenched thriller, about the lengths a man will go to for his daughter.
A gripping spy thriller from a new Le Carre Boundless wealth hides the deepest secrets . . . When a charismatic billionaire asks Ben Webster to investigate his personal affairs it isn't long before the private spy is convinced that there is something very wrong with his new client. What is Darius Qazai's real motive for contacting Webster? And what - beneath his generous, honourable image - does he have to hide? Soon Webster will discover that the tycoon's secret is far bigger and more dangerous than he could have imagined, and that his new enemy will think nothing of destroying him, or his family . . . In a heart-pounding journey which will take readers from London to Marrakech, from Italy to Dubai, Chris Morgan Jones once again asserts himself as the spy thriller writer for a new generation. Also in the Ben Webster series: An Agent of Deceit Praise for Chris Morgan Jones' Ben Webster series: 'The best spy adventure I've read in a long time' The Times 'The Jackal's Share reunites us with corporate spy Ben Webster from his debut An Agent of Deceit. Morgan Jones does invite comparisons with Le Carre, and never more so than in this elegant novel about the dark, amoral charisma of the super-rich. Murky, mesmerising stuff' Guardian 'Moves at tremendous pace and teems with exciting moments . . . such a clever and entertaining novel' The Times 'Chris Morgan Jones's debut novel, An Agent of Deceit, was rightly praised for continuing the reconfiguration of the spy novel begun by such terrific authors as Charles Cumming after the Berlin Wall came down and east versus west became too simplistic an analysis of world politics. But with The Jackal's Share it becomes clear that, actually, Morgan Jones is writing detective as well as spy fiction. The novel is as much Raymond Chandler as John le Carre; as much The Big Sleep as The Spy Who Came in From the Cold . . . Morgan Jones has more than equalled his powerful debut ' Observer 'Accomplished and believable' Sunday Times 'An elegant, tense thriller' Grazia 'Morgan Jones's prose is clean and cold, crisp and ominous . . . this is a world Morgan Jones knows, and it shows' Observer
A massive bestseller in its native Italy, and a book that can justly be compared with Roberto Saviano's Gomorrah, Blood Ties is a terrifying account of the 'ndrangheta's criminal activities over the last four decades. Originally from Calabria, this sinister organization has - like the Mafia in Sicily and the Camorra in Naples - a vicious hold over northern Italy and much of the rest of the country, too, a stranglehold that is growing every day. Told to the authors by an insider, Pippo di Bella, a 'pentito', a former member of the gang now turned state's evidence, it reveals many hitherto unknown operations, as well as throwing new light on well-known cases from the past. It shows an organization which retains and strengthens its position through corruption, drug smuggling, gun running, violence, extortion and kidnapping. Visceral, compelling and terrifyingly readable, it paints a brutally vivid picture of the most dangerous and powerful of the Italian mafias, one which demands to be read.
A Richard and Judy Book Club selection.Next of Kin by David Hosp is a gripping legal thriller in the Scott Finn series, perfect for fans of David Baldacci and Scott Turow.When Boston attorney Scott Finn agrees to defend the son of notorious mobster Eamonn McDougal, he knows he's putting his reputation on the line. But he also knows he can use him as bait to reel in the prize catch. In a city where mob crime once ruled, a core of corruption, greed, lies and deceit still lingers. And it seems there are those in power who will stop at nothing to achieve what they want. Finn, who grew up an orphan on the meanest streets in the city, is determined to solve the murder of the mother he never knew. In his search for the truth he uncovers a sinister trail of murder, betrayal and revenge borne by someone who could neither forgive nor forget. But who can be trusted, and who can be believed? And can Finn find the answers before it's too late? 'Hosp hits the trifecta - brilliant, brawny, and totally believable' David Baldacci
A Richard and Judy Book Club selection.The Summer of the Bear is a beautiful story of a family recovering from loss on a remote Scottish island, from Bella Pollen, author of Hunting Unicorns.In the summer of 1979, a tamed grizzly bear is tempted by the lure of freedom and the wild open sea . . . Meanwhile, the sudden death of British diplomat Nicky Fleming has left his wife closed down with shock. Relocated from Cold-War-riven Germany to a remote Hebridean island, Letty Fleming is haunted by the unthinkable - was it an accident, murder or suicide? And how can she ever begin to explain to her three children that their father may have betrayed his country? Struggling to find solace in a place she loves, Letty begins to unravel the mystery of Nicky's death, but her determination to protect the children from the truth blinds her to the demons they are already battling. As the family's secrets threaten to tear them apart, it is only the strange but brilliant Jamie who manages to hold on to the one thing he knows for sure: his father has promised to return, and Nicky Fleming was a man who never broke a promise . . .
Sea Robber by Tim Severin is the third swashbuckling adventure in the Pirate series. Ambushed by a gang of hardened sea robbers headed for the South Sea, Hector Lynch, pirate and fugitive, must navigate their vessel on a nightmarish journey through the stormy seas off Cape Horn. There Hector uncovers the macabre and eerie remains of a small warship entombed on an ice float. Her only crew are two skeletons - the unfortunate captain and his dog, both frozen to death.When his ruthless shipmates abandon him in Peru, Hector learns from the dead captain's brother that Maria, the young Spanish woman who stole his heart and whose false testimony saved him from the gallows, is now living on the remote Ladrones, the Thief Islands, on the far side of the Pacific. Hector's epic voyage to reach Maria will bring him face to face with a Japanese warlord who submits trespassers to his island to a deadly duel and a naked Stone Age tribe who file their teeth to sharp points and sail boats that outpace the fastest galleon.
The adventure of a lifetime is just beginning . . . It has lain lost and forgotten for fifteen hundred years in the ancient heartland of England - a scrap of glass and metal melded by fierce fire. It is the lost core of a flawless Sphere made by the greatest of the Anglo-Saxon CraeftLords in memory of the one he loved. Her name was Spring and contained in the very heart of this work is a spark from the Fires of Creation. But while humans have lost their belief in such things, the Hydden - little people existing on the borders of our world - have not. Breaking the silence of centuries they send one of their own, a young boy, Jack, to live among humans in the hope that he may one day find what has been lost for so long. His journey leads him to Katherine, a girl he rescues from a tragic accident it's a meeting that will change everything. It is only through their voyage into the dangerous Hyddenworld that they will realize their destiny, find love and complete the great quest that will save both their worlds from destruction. Their journey begins with Spring . . .
Published to coincide with the launch of Ron Howard's blockbuster film, and following on from the huge success of the eponymous West End and Broadway play, Frost/Nixon tells the extraordinary story of how David Frost pursued and landed the biggest fish of his career. When he first conceived the idea of interviewing Richard Nixon and trying to bring the ex-President to confront his past, he was told on all sides that the project would never get off the ground. Yet in the end he succeeded, and the resulting television series drew larger audiences than any news programme ever had in the United States, before being shown all over the world. Including hilarious tales of the people Frost encountered along the way and fascinating insights into the making of the series itself, this book provides an account of the only public trial that Nixon would ever have, and a revelation of the man's character as it appeared in the stress of twelve gruelling sessions before the cameras. Fully revised and updated with historical perspective, and including transcripts of the edited interviews, Frost/Nixon describes David Frost's quest to produce one of the most dramatic pieces of television ever broadcast.
In Not Quite World's End, Simpson offers a lively and upbeat look at the challenges and the changes the world has gone through in his life and long career. In it, he looks at the world and takes the perhaps surprising view that it's actually not nor will be the end of the world. His vivid prose, his clear-sightedness and the wonderful anecdotes about the many strange people and places he has come across - from emperors to movie stars, from Chelsea to China - all add up to a richly satisfying read. And with his long experience and his remarkable ability to explain what's really going on out there, he offers us all a crumb of comfort in desperate times. 'He is a very fine journalist' Nelson Mandela 'Inspirational, anecdotal, humorous and chilling. Simpson's unbiased accounts are riveting' Bob Geldof
Why does the size of a space shuttle's fuel tanks have more to do with a horse's rump than rocket science? Is there a correlation between the humble pint and the capacity of the human bladder? And why is an old Wellington boot as important an instrument of spacial awareness as was ever invented? About the Size of It is a hugely entertaining history of traditional weights and measures that will make you look at your everyday world in a completely different way . . . 'A full and convincing account of why our well-tried and trusted traditional measures make human sense' Alexander McCall Smith 'His direct, engaging conversational prose is a delight to read... inspirational' Andrew Roberts 'Absolutely masterly. Lucid and wise and touching and absolutely right' Jilly Cooper
A glittering story of frost and friendship, with writing full of magic and heart, the Branford Boase-longlisted A Girl Called Owl is a stunning debut about family and the beauty of the natural world.It's bad enough having a mum dippy enough to name you Owl, but when you've got a dad you've never met, a best friend who needs you more than ever, and a new boy at school giving you weird looks, there's not a lot of room for much else. So when Owl starts seeing strange frost patterns on her skin, she's tempted to just burrow down under the duvet and forget all about it. Could her strange new powers be linked to her mysterious father? And what will happen when she enters the magical world of winter for the first time?'A story of wild winds and bitter frosts with the warmth of friendship at its heart.' - Abi Elphinstone, author of Sky Song.'A sparklingly frosty read, full of feisty characters, myth and mystery' - Daily Mail.
The Track of Sand is Andrea Camilleri's twelfth outing in the wryly humorous Inspector Montalbano series. Inspector Montalbano rises one morning to find the carcass of a horse on the beach in front of his seaside home. But no sooner do his men arrive, than the body has mysteriously vanished, leaving only a track in the sand. Before long Rachele, a beguiling equestrian champion, turns up at police headquarters to report her horse missing. The horse had been stabled at the grounds of a certain Saverio Lo Duca, one of the richest men in Sicily. Lo Duca has lost one of his own horses too. Montalbano, his curiosity piqued, investigates, but before long things take a more disturbing turn . . . But who has Montalbano upset within this strange, unfamiliar world of horse-racing? And what has the Mafia to do with it all?The Track of Sand is followed by the thirteenth novel in the series, The Potter's Field.
The Wings of the Sphinx is the eleventh book in the wickedly funny Inspector Montalbano series by Italian author, Andrea Camilleri. Things are not going well for Inspector Montalbano. His long-distance relationship with Livia is on the rocks, he feels himself getting even older and he's growing tired of the violence in his job. Then the dead body of a young woman is found in an illegal dump, with half her face missing. Her identity at first unknown; a tattoo of a sphinx moth on her left shoulder links her with three other girls bearing the same mark, all recent Russian immigrants to Italy. Victims of an underworld sex trade, these girls have been rescued from the Mafia night-club circuit by a Catholic charity organization. The problem is, the other girls can't help Montalbano with his enquiries. They are all missing. As his investigations progresses, it seems that not everyone wants Montalbano to discover what really lies behind the organization's charitable facade. And not only does Montalbano have a case to solve, he has a demanding stomach to feed, and he must save his foundering relationship with Livia . . .The Wings of the Sphinx is followed by the twelfth gripping mystery, The Track of Sand.
August Heat by Andrea Camilleri, is the tenth instalment in the Inspector Montalbano series, adapted as a major BBC4 television series. This edition featuring a stunning redesigned cover. Montalbano quickly slammed the trunk shut and sat down on top of it. When the beam from Livia's torch shone on his face, he automatically smiled. 'What's in the trunk?' Livia asked. 'Nothing. It's empty.' How could he possibly have told her there was a corpse inside? The lazy, slow month of August at the height of the Sicilian summer is, Inspector Montalbano assures his girlfriend Livia as they prepare for a relaxing holiday in a villa he has found for them, far too hot for any murders to be committed. But when Livia's friends' young son goes missing, a chain of events is sparked which will certainly ruin the Chief Inspector's pleasant interlude. A secret apartment and a grisly find in an old trunk are just the beginning, as Montalbano navigates his way though the case, as well as coping with the sweltering heat, the suspicious death of an Arab labourer and the tempting lure of a beautiful girl . . .August Heat is followed by the eleventh book in the series, The Wings of the Sphinx.
Escape on a journey of suspense-filled, non-stop action in Saving Faith by David Baldacci, one of the world's favourite storytellers.Danny Buchanan is a top Washington lobbyist who once earned a vast fortune serving the interests of giant corporations. But then, appalled by the desperate poverty he witnessed on his global travels, he decided to use his political genius to help the world's poor. With the aid of his loyal assistant, attractive and committed Faith Lockhart, Danny now works tirelessly, and in secret, to redress the balance of power.But Robert Thornhill has rather different ideas about what constitutes as public service. A ruthless top-ranking veteran of covert CIA activity, he discovers the secret of Danny's political influence and is determined to destroy him . . .
Sharp...funy...a marvellous attempt to discover the meaning of home' Ian Jack, Observer
Winner of the Royal Society of Literature's Heinemann Award and the Thomas Cook Award.
In the 1970s Bruce Lee emerged as the world's greatest fighting star - an accolade he has kept ever since. He battled to succeed in America in spite of the racial prejudice that denied him a starring role, eventually making films in Hong Kong that turned him into a star - the highest-paid movie star of his day. His controversial death, at the age of thirty-two when he was at the height of his powers, has given him a James-Dean style enduring appeal. In Bruce Lee - Fighting Spirit, Bruce Thomas has written a complete account not only of Lee's life and death, but of the fighting philosophy he developed (jeet kune do) which made him the greatest exponent of martial arts in modern times. In this updated edition he reassesses Lee's skills and examines the enduring impact of his legacy - on action films and martial arts today. As an icon Bruce Lee's popularity continues to grow and this book is a fitting tribute to an extraordinary man whose achievements have never been surpassed. 'An endlessly stimulating accout of Lee's life and times' Loaded
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