Short Books

Our phones have become a constant distraction; it's time we put them down and rediscovered the simple art of taking a few minutes out. This book offers an imaginative list of games and tips aimed at curing us of our portable tech addiction. More than mere time-killers, these activities include ways to unleash your creative side and train your brain, but above all methods to set you on the road to calm.

This book offers an imaginative mix of games and tips to remind you of the simple joys of waking up with a clear head.Whether you are about to embark upon a short detox, quit the sauce for good, or just looking for a night off, these alcohol-free activities will light your way.

Live well and feel great - go vegan in 15...The vegan revolution is here. More and more people are looking to eat and shop in a way that treads as lightly as possible on our fragile planet and that doesn't cause suffering to animals. In Vegan in 15, renowned green food blogger and cook Kate Ford presents the easy way to 'go vegan' - showing you how to conjure up incredibly tasty meals in just 15 minutes, wi...

Denmark is the country of the moment. Recently named the happiest nation in the world, it's the motherland of The Bridge, Borgen, and The Killing, and home to Noma, the world's best restaurant. But though we wear their jumpers and watch their thrillers, how much do we really know about the Danes themselves? Part reportage, part travelogue, How to be Danish is an attempt to fill in some of the gaps - an in...

The most irresistibly witty and revealing tour of Paris in years...In this enchanting memoir, acclaimed author and Paris resident John Baxter recounts his year-long experience of giving "literary walking tours" through the city. Baxter sets off on the trail of Paris's legendary artists and writers. Along the way, he tells the city's history through a brilliant cast of characters: the favourite cafes of Erne...

"In the summer of 1940, lying in the sun, I saw a family of redstarts, unconcerned in the affairs of our skeletal multitude, going about their ways in cherry and chestnut trees..." Soon after his arrival at Warburg PoW camp, British army officer John Buxton found an unexpected means of escape from the horrors of internment. Passing his days covertly watching birds, he was unaware that he, too, was being wat...

For many years, Lyn and Ros Rogers were the owners of Drifters, a famous game farm and backpacker lodge in the eastern mountains. But when President Robert Mugabe launched his violent land reclamation programme, everything changed. The Rogers found their home under siege, their friends and neighbours expelled, and their lives in danger. But instead of leaving, as their son pleaded with them to do, they haul...

#12. Alphabestise your book collection...#23. Play kitchen table tennis...#47. Arrange an office bake off...Political upheaval, nuclear weapons, Trump, bankers' bonuses, climate change, sugar, Trump... Sometimes you'd be forgiven for not wanting to get up off the sofa. Let's face it; we could all do with a break from worrying about what's going on out there.

Shortlisted for a 2018 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award. In the summer after leaving school, a young botanist sets out to fulfil a childhood dream - to find every species of orchid native to the British Isles. He has just a few months to complete his quest - no one has ever done it before within one growing season- and it will require ingenuity, stamina and a large dose of luck. ...

Are you really aware of what you spend? Do you know how to value things beyond their price? For the answer to these questions and more, look no further than Kakebo - the budgeting journal used by millions every day in Japan to manage their household spending. The Japanese believe that tidiness in one's finances is as important as tidiness in one's house - indeed for them, the act of thinking mindfully about...

At 2.20am on 15th April 1912, the Titanic was plunging 12,000 feet to the ocean floor. Machinery, coal, crystal goblets, pianos and jewellery all tumble through the dark water. Hundreds of passengers and crew remain trapped below decks - hundreds more will perish on the surface. This is the definitive chronology of the Titanic's final hours, told in fascinating detail and offering a real-time experience of ...

We are a nation that loves its ancient woods and trees. We prize our sturdy oaks, craggy pines, bluebells and primroses, badgers and dormice. We value the history and heritage of places that have been woodland since before the Norman Conquest. But only a generation ago we were all set to wipe them out. It was said that in the space of just 30 years, nearly half of our ancient woods were destroyed. How and w...

On 30th April 1945 Germany is in chaos - Russian troops have reached Berlin. All over the country, people are on the move - concentration camp survivors, Allied PoWs, escaping Nazis - and the civilian population is fast running out of food. The man who orchestrated this nightmare is in his bunker beneath the capital, saying his farewells. Hitler's Last Day: Minute by Minute is pure chronological narrat...

#17. Make a snowball cocktail...#32. Play children's Trivial Pursuit so you feel smarter...#51. Write your own Queen's Speech for the year...Christmas can be a real whirlwind - buying presents, cooking the dinner, hosting the family. Surely there is a way to make it all a little more relaxing, and a bit more fun?This book offers an imaginative mix of games and tips to remind you of why we celebrate Christma...

Daughter of the famous romantic poet Lord Byron, Ada Lovelace was a child prodigy. Brilliant at maths, she read numbers like most people read words.Lady Byron wanted Ada to be as unlike her father as possible. Ada grew up surrounded by an army of tutors who taught her every subject every waking moment, except for poetry.In 1843 Ada came to the attention of Charles Babbage, a scientist and inventor who had j...

Life on planet earth is not weirder than we imagine. It's weirder than we are capable of imagining.And we're all in it together: humans, blue whales, rats, birds of paradise, ridiculous numbers of beetles, molluscs the size of a bus, bdelloid rotifers who haven't had sex for millions of years and creatures called water bears: you can boil them, freeze them and fire them off into space without killing them.I...

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was a man with a brilliant brain for design, and never tired of building new and exciting things - the deepest tunnel, the longest bridge, the fastest train. For Brunel, the average and the ordinary were just not good enough. He was a perfectionist and a control freak. And he would stop at nothing to complete a project, even when if it meant taking hair-raising risks...

Vatanescu, an impoverished construction worker, wants a future for himself and a pair of football boots for his son. So he decides to head north to a cold, dark country where there is money to be made.

"Change the World 9 to 5" is the latest book from the team that brought you the best selling "Change the World for a Fiver". "Change the World 9 to 5" features 50 simple, practical things which we can all do during the working day to make a difference to the world and those around us, regardless of our profession. And like "Change the World for a Fiver", it will be packed with tricks, gimmicks and even the ...