Shouting At The Telly

A host of comedians, writers and viewers, including Rebecca Front, Andrew Collins, Kevin Eldon, Emma Kennedy, Richard Herring, Jim Shelley and David Quantick share funny and heartfelt rants and raves on everything from soaps to sitcoms, sci-fi to reality shows, HBO to QVC. All of TV is here: the age-old rift between BBC and ITV that tore families apart; the secret shame of crying at adverts; and those significant moments in life when television has made for an unforgettable backdrop. Richard Herring has a controversial new theory about Goodnight Sweetheart, Boyd Hilton shares his all-time comedy top ten and Rebecca Front demolishes the clichés of news reading. They're joined by a list of fellow telly addicts with axes to grind, . So, if you have ever rooted for the most offensive candidates in The Apprentice or repeatedly corrected Supernanny Jo Frost's pronounciation of 'unacceptable' then this book will give you and your spleen many happy memories of the hours you've spent shouting at the telly.

A gritty, urban YA crime thriller from the acclaimed adult author Catherine Sampson. "Tense, funny and gripping, this is both an eye-opener and a heart-wringer in its depiction of the underclass…. Sarah is less foul-mouthed than she would be in reality, but she is a strong, brave and true heroine who would make Jacqueline Wilson's creations look like Noddy." The Times This is the sort of subject matter that we desperately need our novelists to tackle, although for those who care more about whether a novel is good rather than whether it is necessary, I should add that it is ingenious, gripping and funny." The Telegraph "A fantastic, intense crime thriller with an unreliable narrator. It's about more than murder: it's about failing families, social class, drugs, sex abuse, failing interventions, fear, grief and loneliness. It's an electric read and a fantastic YA debut. Highly recommended." The Bookbag Sarah aka Carnaby has a tough life, but it suddenly gets a whole lot tougher when her mother is found murdered, her sister goes into labour and her new baby nephew is threatened with being taken into care. Sarah doesn't remember finding her mother's body, but she does remember hearing about other murders on the estate where they live. Is there a connection - and can Sarah find out what is going on, without putting herself and her family in even more danger?

'Had me laughing out loud one minute and emotional the next. I'm excited to have found a new favourite detective' --- CLAIRE DOUGLAS This is one case Miller won't want to open . . . Unconventional Detective Declan Miller has a problem. Still desperate to solve the murder of his wife, a young man has just appeared on his doorstep with a briefcase . . . containing a pair of severed hands. Miller knows this case is proof of a contract killing commissioned by local ne'er do well Wayne Cutler - a man he suspects might also be responsible for his wife's death. Now Miller has leverage, but unfortunately he also has something that both Cutler and a villainous fast-food kingpin are desperate to get hold of. Chuck in a Midsomer Murders-obsessed hitman, a psychotic welder and a woman driven over the edge by a wayward Crème Egg, and Miller is in a mess that even he might not be able to dance his way out of.

The Race Around Ireland is a non-stop 2,200 km bicycle race that circumnavigates the island of Ireland anti-clockwise. It is held every year at the start of September and can be approached as a solo competitor, as a team of two, four or eight. In January of 2014, a group of cyclists from Maynooth Students for Charity Cycling Club decided to take on the challenge. They were told it was the toughest endurance race in Europe. This is the story, as told through the recollections of the participants, of how a bunch of Average Joes conquered the race and set a new Irish record time. It is a story of great adventure, of beating the odds, of battling inner demons and exceeding expectations. Ultimately it is a story of teamwork and lifelong friendship, because that's what won the race.

A mind-blowing adventure into a literary fourth dimension: part noir, part London snapshot, all unsettlingly amazing Hawthorn and his partner, Child, are called to the scene of a mysterious shooting in North London. The only witness is unreliable, the clues are scarce, and the victim, a young man who lives nearby, swears he was shot by a ghost car. While Hawthorn battles with fatigue and strange dreams, the crime and the narrative slip from his grasp and the stories of other Londoners take over: a young pickpocket on the run from his boss; an editor in possession of a disturbing manuscript; a teenage girl who spends her days at the Tate Modern; a pack of wolves; and a madman who has been infected by the former Prime Minister Tony Blair. Haunting these disparate lives is the shadowy figure of Mishazzo, an elusive crime magnate who may be running the city, or may not exist at all.

Karl Williams was on holiday in Dubai, living it large with two English friends, when they were accused of drug dealing, arrested, and tortured by police. They were innocent, but the authorities didn't care. And so began their year-long nightmare as they were locked up in Port Rashid where prisoners of all nationalities were crammed into stinking cells, violence could erupt in seconds, and control of the jail was in the hands of a few powerful inmates. Unless you knew the right people and could work the system, you were screwed. Karl was a survivor and managed to rise up the prison pecking order, making friends with local gangsters, Russian mafia and other assorted murderers, drug dealers, fraudsters and hapless innocents he encountered behind bars. But it was hard to stay positive when facing life or the death penalty . . . And then he was moved to the notorious Central prison, a terrifying place where HIV positive prisoners were used by gangsters to infect their enemies; and murders and rape were common. When Karl had lost all hope of finding justice, Reprieve, an organization of committed human rights defenders, took up his case . . . Raw, totally gripping, and at times brutally funny, Killing Time takes you behind the shiny desert paradise to the heart of the real Dubai.