Under A Mackerel Sky

‘All men should strive to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why’ Rick Stein's childhood in 1950s rural Oxfordshire and North Cornwall was idyllic. His parents were charming and gregarious, their five children much-loved and given freedom typical of the time. As he grew older, the holidays were filled with loud and lively parties in his parents' Cornish barn. But ever-present was the unpredicatible mood of his bipolar father, with Rick frequently the focus of his anger and sadness. When Rick was 18 his father killed himself. Emotionally adrift, Rick left for Australia, carrying a suitcase stamped with his father's initials. Manual labour in the outback followed by adventures in America and Mexico toughened up the naive public schoolboy, but at heart he was still lost and unsure what to do with his life. Eventually, Cornwall called him home. From the entrepreneurial days of his mobile disco, the Purple Tiger, to his first, unlikely unlikely nightclub where much of the time was spent breaking up drink-fuelled fights, Rick charts his personal journey in a way that is both wry and perceptive; engaging and witty. Shortlisted for the Specsavers National Book Awards 2013

The American debut of one of Canada's most original emerging authors, "Mackerel Sky" is about sex, counterfeiting, and the price of power.

Discusses the history, types, and cultural fascination with clouds and explains what they mean in terms of climate and weather.

From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Secret World of Weather and The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs, learn to tap into nature and notice the hidden clues all around you Before GPS, before the compass, and even before cartography, humankind was navigating. Now this singular guide helps us rediscover what our ancestors long understood—that a windswept tree, the depth of a puddle, or a trill of birdsong can help us find our way, if we know what to look and listen for. Adventurer and navigation expert Tristan Gooley unlocks the directional clues hidden in the sun, moon, stars, clouds, weather patterns, lengthening shadows, changing tides, plant growth, and the habits of wildlife. Rich with navigational anecdotes collected across ages, continents, and cultures, The Natural Navigator will help keep you on course and open your eyes to the wonders, large and small, of the natural world.

'Think about a tune ... the unsayable, the invisible, the longing in music. Here is a book of tunes without musical notes ... It wrings the heart' John Berger 'A masterpiece' Robert Macfarlane 'O'Grady does not just respond to Pyke's stark, beautiful photographs: he gives voice to thousands' Louise Kennedy An old man lies alone and sleepless in London. Before dawn he is taken by an image from his childhood in the West of Ireland, and begins to remember a migrant's life. Haunted by the faces and the land he left behind, he calls forth the bars and boxing booths of England, the potato fields and building sites, the music he played and the woman he loved. Timothy O'Grady's tender, vivid prose and Steve Pyke's starkly beautiful photographs combine to make a unique work of fiction, an act of remembering suffused with loss, defiance and an unforgettable loveliness. An Irish life with echoes of the lives of unregarded migrant workers everywhere. Since it was first published in 1997, I Could Read the Sky has achieved the status of a classic.

• Written by a critically-acclaimed natural-history author • Shares author’s fun journey to understanding clouds • Written for the curious—but non-science—minded Author Maria Mudd Ruth fell in love with clouds the same way she stumbles into most passions: madly and unexpectedly. A Sideways Look at Clouds is the story of her quite accidental infatuation with and education about the clouds above. When she moved to the soggy Northwest a decade ago, Maria assumed that locals would know everything there was to know about clouds, in the same way they talk about salmon, tides, and the Seahawks. Yet in her first two years of living in Olympia, Washington, she never heard anyone talk about clouds—only the rain. Puzzled by this lack of cloud savvy, she decided to create a 10-question online survey and sent it to everyone she knew. Her sample size of 67 people included men and women, new friends in Olympia, family on the East Coast, outdoorsy and indoorsy types, professional scientists, and liberal arts majors like herself. The results showed that while people knew a little bit about clouds, most were like her—they had a hard time identifying clouds or remembering their names. As adults, they had lost their curiosity and sense of wonder about clouds and were, essentially, not in the habit of looking up. A Sideways Look at Clouds acknowledges the challenges of understanding clouds and so uses a very steep and bumpy learning curve—the author’s—as its plot line. The book is structured around the ten words used in most definitions of a cloud: “a visible mass of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere above the earth.” A captivating story teller, Maria blends science, wonder, and humor to take the scenic route through the clouds and encourages readers to chart their own rambling, idiosyncratic course.

The Black Moth (1921) is a historical romance novel by Georgette Heyer. Initially devised as a series of stories for her younger brother Boris, who suffered from hemophilia, The Black Moth became Heyer’s debut novel following its discovery by her father, who recognized its merits and sought publication. Published in Britain and the United States, The Black Moth was a commercial success that launched the career of one of twentieth-century England’s most popular writers of fiction. Set during the Georgian era of the 1750s, the story follows Lord Jack Carstares, a disgraced nobleman who turns to a life of crime after taking the blame for his brother’s persistent dishonesty at cards. Branded a cheater and a thief, Jack briefly flees England before returning under the name of Sir Anthony Ferndale. Forced into the shadows, he becomes a highwayman notorious for robbing the carriages of the rich. Following his father’s death and his brother’s ascent to the head of the family estate, Jack is caught while robbing the carriage of a man who turns out to be Miles O’Hara, an old friend and Justice of the Peace. Arrested, Jack is forced to reveal his identity, and is promptly forgiven. Retaining his disguise and unready to rejoin the social life of England’s elite, Jack becomes embroiled in a scandal involving the abduction of Miss Diana Beauleigh, whom he rescues from the wicked Duke of Andover. Unable to remain anonymous for much longer, Jack is pulled by his innate goodness toward the friends and family he has long since left behind, allowing him one last chance at redemption. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Georgette Heyer’s The Black Moth is a classic work of English historical romance reimagined for modern readers.

Theodosia Throckmorton has her hands full at the Museum of Legends and Antiquities in London. Her father may be head curator, but it is Theo--and only Theo--who is able to see all the black magic and ancient curses that still cling to the artifacts in the museum. When Theo’s mother returns from her latest archaeological dig bearing the Heart of Egypt--a legendary amulet belonging to an ancient tomb--Theo learns that it comes inscribed with a curse so black and vile that it threatens to crumble the British Empire from within and start a war too terrible to imagine. Intent on returning the malevolent artifact to its rightful place, Theo devises a daring plan to put things right. But even with the help of her younger brother, a wily street urchin, and the secret society known as the Brotherhood of the Chosen Keepers, it won’t be easy . . . she quickly finds herself pursued down dark alleys, across an ocean, through the bustling crowds of Cairo, and straight into the heart of an ancient mystery. Theo will have to call upon everything she’s ever learned in order to prevent the rising chaos from destroying her country--and herself!