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Explore new ways to capture nature in your on-location drawings and paintings through insightful tips and inspiring artwork from 40+ artists from around the world. In The Urban Sketching Handbook Spotlight on Nature, Gail L. Wong and Virginia Heinshare their secrets for getting beyond basic greenery. Presenting a variety of approaches, including detailed examples,quick tips, and “workshop” ideas for practicing the concepts, this book reviews important fundamentals for composition and color and inspires unique treatments and points of view. There is a story to be told about nature wherever we are. Pack this handbook with your art supplies as you set out to tell your own stories of nature, and discover:   Different ways you can use nature to compose your story and your sketch, whether nature is the main character, the setting, or a frame for your composition. A variety of approaches to representing the incredible variety of forms, surfaces, and textures we find in nature, including finding shape, proportion, and structure and creating depth. Tips for finding the character of a place with advice on painting water movement, atmosphere and weather, and quality of light. Places to find nature in a city, from a venerable landmark tree to a humble dandelion growing in a sidewalk crack. An exploration of various methods of expressive interpretation, including sketching in monochrome, playing with color palettes, and simplifying shapes. A gallery of inspirational examples of art showing a variety of different artistic styles and a list of 24 artistic challenges to develop your own style and skills. Geared toward intermediate and experienced artists, but a great inspirational reference for beginners, The Urban Sketching Handbook Spotlight on Nature shows you the many ways you can bring nature to life on the page. The Urban Sketching Handbook series offers artists expert instruction on creative techniques, on-location tips and advice, and an abundance of visual inspiration. These handy references come in a compact, easy-to-carry format—perfect to toss in your backpack or artist’s tote.

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Buy Val McDermid's masterful new thriller, 1989, now!'The queen of crime is still at the top of her game' Independent'No one can plot or tell a story like she can' Daily ExpressSomeone is brutally killing women. Women who bear a striking resemblance to former DCI Carol Jordan. The connection is too strong to ignore and soon psychological profiler Tony Hill finds himself dangerously close to the investigation, just as the killer is closing in on his next target.This is a killer like no other, hell-bent on inflicting the most severe and grotesque punishment on his prey. As the case becomes ever-more complex and boundaries begin to blur, Tony and Carol must work together once more to try and save the victims, and themselves.A breathless, thrilling mystery from the number one bestseller. Praise for Val McDermid: 'It grabs the reader by the throat and never lets go' Daily Mail 'So gripping it puts your life on hold' The Times 'As good a psychological thriller as it is possible to get' Sunday Express 'One of today's most accomplished crime writers' Literary Review 'McDermid remains unrivalled' ObserverThis is the eighth book in the bestselling Tony Hill and Carol Jordan series.

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This accessible and science-based reference guide is both an educational text and a source of inspiration for the millions of people who want to know more about the connection between food and health. In a clear and focused style, the authors take us beyond nutritional facts, sharing cutting-edge clinical discoveries on what and how foods stimulate the body's natural ability to rejuvenate and heal. They advise readers on designing a safe diet by exploring such current programs as The Zone Diet and Atkins; discuss the roles that fibre, enzymes, fatty acids and other dietary components have in helping us to live healthily; offer over views of important food groups and tips on preparing them; and provide food prescriptions for a wide variety of ailments.This is a comprehensive, accesible, fascinating and uniquely effective owner's manual on what to feed the 'vessel of the soul' that guides readers to a greater understanding of diet and health.

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OLD GOD'S TIME (MARCH 2023), SEBASTIAN BARRY'S STUNNING NEW NOVEL, AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOWA stunning return from the prize-winning and best-selling author ofThe Secret Scripture Jack McNulty is a 'temporary gentleman', an Irishman whose commission in the British army in the Second World War was never permanent. In 1957, sitting in his lodgings in Accra, he urgently sets out to write his story. He feels he cannot take one step further, or even hardly a breath, without looking back at all that has befallen him.He is an ordinary man, both petty and heroic, but he has seen extraordinary things. He has worked and wandered around the world - as a soldier, an engineer, a UN observer - trying to follow his childhood ambition to better himself. And he has had a strange and tumultuous marriage. Mai Kirwan was a great beauty of Sligo in the 1920s, a vivid mind, but an elusive and mysterious figure too. Jack married her, and shared his life with her, but in time she slipped from his grasp.A heart-breaking portrait of one man's life - of his demons and his lost love - The Temporary Gentleman is, ultimately, a novel about Jack's last bid for freedom, from the savage realities of the past and from himself.

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Discover over 500 species of sea shell from around the world with this pocket visual guide! This comprehensive handbook combines authoritative text and crystal-clear photography, bringing to light the planet's most spectacular shells. Packed with more than 600 full-color photographs, this handy reference book cuts through the complexities of identification, helping you to recognise more than 500 species of sea shell.Learn about the distinguishing characteristics of different shell species, where they came from, and how they came to look the way they do. For shell collecting beginners and conchology enthusiasts alike, this concise and portable guide will turn your next beach walk into an eye-opening journey of discovery! Handbook of Shells is filled with all you need to know about shell collecting and identification! Inside you'll find: -Jargon-free profiles of each shell, supported by stunning photographs -A shell identification key of every major group, making recognition easier than ever-Practical instructions explaining how to start, clean, identify and display a shell collection-Distribution maps illustrating the geographical range of each species At-a-glance key facts to impress your friends! Practical oceanology for all ages! Have you ever wondered how such delicate shells are churned out of the world's raging oceans? Now you can not only learn about our planet's most stunning sea shells, but also collect your own!Handbook of Shells is expertly written and authenticated by the Smithsonian Institution, providing the most up to date scientific information on shell classification. The perfect gift for a budding marine biologist, or anyone wanting to try their hand at beachcombing, this DK book is the clearest and sharpest sea shell guide out there! Even more handbooks to get you out into nature! The DK Handbook series is an incredible collection of titles that fascinate curious minds. Learn how rocks are formed and how to recognize them with the Handbook of Rocks and Minerals, or enter the fascinating world of astronomy with the Handbook of Stars and Planets.

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One game. Six students. Five survivors.It was only ever meant to be a game. A game of consequences, of silly forfeits, childish dares. A game to be played by six best friends in their first year at Oxford University. But then the game changed: the stakes grew higher and the dares more personal, more humiliating, finally evolving into a vicious struggle with unpredictable and tragic results. Now, fourteen years later, the remaining players must meet again for the final round.

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She smelled like jasmine. No, not exactly. She smelled like the earth beneath a jasmine plant on a hot day.   Most of us are poets, she said. It’s just a question of how it comes out.  When a creative writing academic becomes infatuated with his colleague – the poet – it is not long before it begins to threaten his relationship with his partner, Michael. Michael is beautiful. Michael is safe. But the poet is everything he isn’t; she has everything he wants. While he writes about steel and sex, she dreams about the movements of swallows. While he tends to his budding career, she writes from her big, white house in the woods. As he slips between his old life and this new one, his fixation grows into something more powerful. The poet, his Kingfisher, is his sole focus. He is hypnotised.But when simultaneous illnesses threaten to destroy the precarious reality he clings to, he’s forced to question what he can and cannot take from someone. This is a novel about grief, power and desire – and the tangles in between that make up a life.

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Welcome to Puffin Rock - home to two young and fun puffins, Oona and Baba. Join this delightful pair as they discover their island and embark on new and exciting adventures.With beautiful and nostalgic illustrations, these characters are set to become firm preschool favourites.

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Brendan Doyle is a twentieth-century English professor who travels back to 1810 London to attend a lecture given by English romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. This is a London filled with deformed clowns, organised beggar societies, insane homunculi and magic.When he is kidnapped by gypsies and consequently misses his return trip to 1983, the mild-mannered Doyle is forced to become a street-smart con man, escape artist, and swordsman in order to survive in the dark and treacherous London underworld. He defies bullets, black magic, murderous beggars, freezing waters, imprisonment in mutant-infested dungeons, poisoning, and even a plunge back to 1684.Coleridge himself and poet Lord Byron make appearances in the novel, which also features a poor tinkerer who creates genetic monsters and a werewolf that inhabits others' bodies when his latest becomes too hairy.

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'Masterly.' Daily Mail 'Stunning.' History Today'Magnificent.' Literary ReviewNapoleon's life reached its most extraordinary stage between 1805 and 1810. At war with Britain, Russia, and Austria, he unleashed his magnificent Grande Armée. The first resounding victory at Austerlitz was followed by a whirlwind of campaigns, and by 1810 he had divorced Josephine in order to marry the daughter of the Austrian Emperor. The Spirit of the Age illustrates in vivid detail the five years in which Napoleon appeared to be invincible.

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The Invaders is the second book in the Brotherband series, from the author of the internationally bestselling Ranger's Apprentice.Enter a world of wolfships, epic battles and treachery in the cold northern seas. Enter the world of Brotherband.Hal and the Heron brotherband are on the trail of Zavac and his precious cargo. Will they be able to find the pirates when the weather clears? And when they do, how can they possibly beat the mighty Raven and its crew of vicious cut-throats and killers?Perfect for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, T.H. White’s The Sword in the Stone, Christopher Paolini’s Eragon series and Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series.

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Bestselling author, Cesar Millan, takes his principles of dog psychology a step further, showing you how to develop the calm-assertive energy of a successful pack leader and use it to improve your dog's life - and your own.Filled with practical tips and techniques as well as success stories from his fans, clients (including the Grogan family), and his popular television show Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan, Cesar helps you understand and read your dog's energy as well as your own so that you can move beyond just correcting behavioural issues and take your connection with your dog to the next level.The principles of calm-assertive energy will help you become a better pack leader in every area of your life, improving your relationships with friends, family and co-workers. In addition, Cesar addresses several important issues for the first time, including what you need to know about the major dog behaviour tools available and the difference between 'personality' and 'instability'.What emerges from BE THE PACK LEADER are both happier dogs and happier, more centred owners.

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'Profoundly moving. An astonishing book, a true work of art' Max Porter, author of Grief is the Thing with Feathers From the critically acclaimed author of The Vagrants, a devastating and utterly original novel on grief and motherhood'Days: the easiest possession. The days he had refused would come, one at a time. They would wait, every daybreak, with their boundless patience and indifference, seeing if they could turn me into an ally or an enemy to myself.'A woman's teenage son takes his own life. It is incomprehensible. The woman is a writer, and so she attempts to comprehend her grief in the space she knows best: on the page, as an imagined conversation with the child she has lost. He is as sharp and funny and serious in death as he was in life itself, and he will speak back to her, unable to offer explanation or solace, but not yet, not quite, gone.Where Reasons End is an extraordinary portrait of parenthood, in all its painful contradictions of joy, humour and sorrow, and of what it is to lose a child.'A masterpiece. This book haunts me more than any other novel I've read in recent years' Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You'Heart-wrenching, fearless, and unlike anything you've ever read' Esquire'I sit here shaken and, I think, changed by this work' Katherine Boo, author of Behind the Beautiful Forevers'A devastating read, but also a tender one, filled with love, complexity, and a desire for understanding' Nylon'The most intelligent, insightful, heart-wrenching book of our time' Sean Andrew Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less'Captures the affections and complexity of parenthood in a way that has never been portrayed before' The Millions'Ethereal and electric, radiating unthinkable pain and profound love' Buzzfeed

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If you think you know Winnie and Wilbur, think again! In 'Winnie and the Toof Fairy' you'll find them battling with a grumpy tooth fairy; in 'Winnie's One-Witch Band' Winnie tries to match Wilbur's musical talents; in 'Itchy Witchy' Winnie takes Wilbur (and his fleas) to the pet show; and in 'Winnie Says Cheese' Winnie and Wilbur take some supremely silly snapshots to add to their photo album. Four hilarious stories featuring Winnie and Wilbur and a zany supporting cast. Korky Paul's exuberant black line illustrations complement the humour, slapstick, and moments of real drama in each story. 'Funny, mischievous, silly, and exciting. Great stuff.' Giles Andrea, author of Sir Scallywag and the Golden Underpants.The spellbinding new look of this bestselling series celebrates the wonderful relationship shared by Winnie and her cat, Wilbur. Since 1987 they have been delighting children and adults all over the world and more than 7 million books have been sold. Winnie and Wilbur will be hitting TV screens worldwide in 2017, airing in the UK on Milkshake, Channel 5's popular pre-school slot. A Winnie and Wilbur stage show is set to run in Birmingham in 2017 followed by a national UK tour. A new look forthe website, too! www.winnieandwilbur.com

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The explosive finale to the Bodyguard series takes Connor on a thrill-ride through Shanghai, where he comes face to face with his ultimate nemesis.After a mission goes tragically wrong, Connor Reeves returns in disgrace to Buddyguard HQ, only to find the covert facility has been attacked and his fellow recruits abducted.Summoned urgently to China, Connor arrives in Shanghai to discover he's the target for an assassination by Equilibrium, the clandestine organization that has plagued his life as a bodyguard.With a mark on his head, Connor goes on the run through an alien country and from an enemy he knows even less about.With the fast-paced action, high-stakes missions and gadgets that would make James Bond jealous, the BODYGUARD series is perfect for fans of CHERUB and ALEX RIDER.

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There is widespread confusion about the nature of religious truth. For the first time in history, a significantly large number of people want nothing to do with God. Militant atheists preach a gospel of godlessness with the zeal of missionaries and find an eager audience. Tracing the history of faith from the Palaeolithic Age to the present, Karen Armstrong shows that meaning of words such as 'belief', 'faith', and 'mystery' has been entirely altered, so that atheists and theists alike now think and speak about God - and, indeed, reason itself - in a way that our ancestors would have found astonishing.Does God have a future? Karen Armstrong examines how we can build a faith that speaks to the needs of our troubled and dangerously polarised world.

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The next hilarious action rom-com from the author of Love at First Flight, perfect for fans of The Fall Guy and Mr and Mrs Smith.💖 Fake Dating💖 Rivals-to-lovers💖 Action rom-com💖 Forced proximity💖 Second-chance romance💖 Gorgeous holiday read When Lizzie is hired as a Private Investigator to look into a cheating spouse, the last person she expects to run into is Cam, her ex - who she dated for a grand total of 6 hours - and the reason she left the Police Academy. Something Lizzie definitely isn't still bitter about it. Cam, while investigating a man for money laundering, once again finds himself on the opposing side to Lizzie, his old flame. As their searches takes them to the romantic and glamorous Seychelles, the pair are forced to masquerade as a honeymooning couple in love to cover their tracks. When they find themselves caught up in a criminal conspiracy bigger than they expected, Lizzie and Cam must pretend to a loving couple to get off the island alive - but as old feelings resurface, are they really just playing the part? Reader's can't get enough of Jo's books!'If this doesn't speak romcom perfection I don't know what does!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Wow! This book would make THE most amazing romantic movie' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'OMG!!! I absolutely love, LOVE, LOVED this absolutely gorgeous book!!! I must say it has got to be one of the best romances I have ever read!!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'A laugh-out-loud novel with unique and realistic characters' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Why haven't I heard of Jo Watson before?!! Such a brilliant read and one that totally and utterly broke my star rating system!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

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‘A rural Ben Aaronovitch!’ C. K. McDonnell   ‘Fast-paced, entertainingly creepy, laugh-out-loud funny, and genuinely moving’ Michelle Paver  Dear reader, you are cordially invited to the strangest wedding of the year . . .   It’s May 1941, and the war is in full swing. Yet in the quiet village of Woodville in rural Kent a happy event is on the horizon, as Faye Bright interrupts her training with the British Secret Service to return home and marry her true love, Bertie.   But as preparations get underway, a ghostly premonition throws a spanner in the works. Who is the Corn Bride, and is her burning visage a warning, or a threat to the happiest day of Faye’s life?   As Faye and the witches investigate, it’s soon apparent that there’s much more on the line than dress fittings, cake and Bertie’s stag do. For an old enemy is stirring in the shadows, bent on vengeance. And he’s not above crashing a wedding to get it.   Will the happy couple make it to the church on time? Or, after all she’s survived, could it be getting hitched that finally spells Faye’s doom?Embark upon an adventure that weaves together romance, undead Nazis, pensioner spies, spectral schoolchildren and a talking budgerigar, and still somehow manages to prove that love is the most powerful magic of all. For fans of Lev Grossman and Terry Pratchett comes the fifth novel in this delightful series of war, mystery and a little bit of magic . . . Don’t miss the other magical books in the WITCHES OF WOODVILLE series! #1 The Crow Folk #2 Babes in the Wood #3 The Ghost of Ivy Barn #4 The Holly King

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Distract yourself from a world on fire with this officially licensed coloring book featuring Question Hound, the star of KC Green's iconic "On Fire" comic, which captivated the world with three simple words: "This is fine."This is Fine: The Official Coloring Book presents 40 hilarious (and horrific) illustrations of Question Hound trying to navigate the extremely relatable everyday struggles determined to beat him down. When you don't know whether to laugh or cry, just pick up a colored pencil and keep repeating "This is fine."Coloring these charmingly bleak images makes for the perfect activity for a creative afternoon, especially if you want to curl up in bed and hide from the world.

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A New York Times bestseller!★ "Rhodes deftly captures a unique ­aspect of this historical event, with a perspective that is ­often under-represented in historical ­fiction. A poignant and honest look at the trials of racism that defined the ­historic land rush; a must-buy." -School Library Journal, starred review It's 1889, barely twenty-five years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and a young Black family is tired of working on land they don't get to own.So when Will and his father hear about an upcoming land rush, they set out on a journey from Texas to Oklahoma, racing thousands of others to the place where land is free-if they can get to it fast enough. But the journey isn't easy-the terrain is rough, the bandits are brutal, and every interaction carries a heavy undercurrent of danger.And then there's the stranger they encounter and befriend: a mysterious soldier named Caesar, whose Union emblem brings more attention-and more trouble-than any of them need.All three are propelled by the promise of something long denied to them: freedom, land ownership, and a place to call home-but is a strong will enough to get them there?

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Penguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series for learners of English as a foreign language. With carefully adapted text, new illustrations and language learning exercises, the print edition also includes instructions to access supporting material online.Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction, introducing language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content.The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework of Reference for language learning (CEFR). Exercises at the back of each Reader help language learners to practise grammar, vocabulary, and key exam skills. Before, during and after-reading questions test readers’ story comprehension and develop vocabulary.This Summer's Secrets, a Level 5 Reader, is B1 in the CEFR framework. The text is made up of sentences with up to four clauses, introducing present perfect continuous, past perfect, reported speech and second conditional. It is well supported by illustrations, which appear regularly.It’s a hot summer in Cornwall. When 16-year-old Senara Jenkins and her friends lose their drone in the garden of Cliff House, they discover that it is full of secrets. As Senara meets a world of beautiful rich people, her life changes. But should some secrets stay secret?Visit the Penguin Readers websiteExclusively with the print edition, readers can unlock online resources including a digital book, audio edition, lesson plans and answer keys.

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'Utterly compelling... I absolutely loved it' Sarah Winman'Tantalising' Sunday Times'Thoroughly enjoyable' GuardianNo one looks twice at the women in the typing pool.No one knows that two of them are trading secrets. The secret is a book, the size of the one in your hands, and within its pages, a love story that could change the world. But where there is love there is pain. And where there is deception, formidable danger...'Mixing Mad Men and John le Carré ... addictive' i paper'Irresistibly charged' Mail on Sunday

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'It has taken me several years of exploration, but I am at a place now where I see autism as neither an affliction nor a superpower. It's just the blueprint for who I am. There is no cure, but that's absolutely fine by me. To cure me of my autism would be to cure me of myself.'During the first thirty years of her life, comedy script writer Sara Gibbs had been labelled a lot of things - a cry baby, a scaredy cat, a spoiled brat, a weirdo, a show off - but more than anything else, she'd been called a Drama Queen. No one understood her behaviour, her meltdowns or her intense emotions. She felt like everyone else knew a social secret that she hadn't been let in on; as if life was a party she hadn't been invited to. Why was everything so damn hard? Little did Sara know that, at the age of thirty, she would be given one more label that would change her life's trajectory forever. That one day, sitting next to her husband in a clinical psychologist's office, she would learn that she had never been a drama queen, or a weirdo, or a cry baby, but she had always been autistic.Drama Queen is both a tour inside one autistic brain and a declaration that a diagnosis on the spectrum, with the right support, accommodations and understanding, doesn't have to be a barrier to life full of love, laughter and success. It is the story of one woman trying to fit into a world that has often tried to reject her and, most importantly, it's about a life of labels, and the joy of ripping them off one by one.

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As a child, Monkey D Luffy dreamed of becoming the King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally gained the power to stretch like rubber at the cost of never being able to swim again! Now Luffy, with the help of a motley collection of pirate wannabes, is setting off in search of the 'One Piece', said to be the greatest treasure in the world... No sooner have Luffy and crew escaped the bounty hunters of Whisky Peak than they become the target of a sinister criminal outfit known as Baroque Works. But the Straw Hat Pirates have bigger worries, now that they've agreed to protect a very important person in return for untold riches.

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