Hodder&Stoughton
Год издания 2004

Описание:
It's 1985 and Brian Jackson has arrived at university with a burning ambition - to make it onto TV's foremost general knowledge quiz. But no sooner has he embarked on 'The Challenge' than he finds himself falling hopelessly in love with his teammate, the beautiful and charismatic would-be actress, Alice Harbinson. When Alice fails to fall for his slightly over-eager charms, Brian comes up with a foolproof plan to capture her heart once and for all. He's going to win the game, at any cost, because - after all - everyone knows that what a woman really wants from a man is a comprehensive grasp of general knowledge... Starter for Ten is a comedy about love, class, growing-up and the all-important difference between knowledge and wisdom. Are you up to the challenge of the funniest novel in years?

Описание:
During his year of exploration, Patrick meets a rich cast of characters. Among them is a young local wine-maker called Virgile, who offers to initiate Patrick into the mysteries of each season's work in the fields and in the cellar. Virgile is passionately committed to perfection, though he operates on a shoestring. At the other extreme is Manu, Patrick's dipsomaniac neighbour, a die-hard traditionalist producing a private wine lake of unspeakable rouge. With Manu as his self-appointed guide, Patrick embarks on a tour of the region's wine makers, a succession of lively encounters with growers as varied as the wines themselves. Interwoven are digressions into the history of the region and its wine-making, right back to the earliest plantings by the Greeks and Romans. Meanwhile, the author struggles to deal with his dilapidated inheritance – an unfamiliar and unpredictable world where the brambles have grown as tall as the olive trees, the water supply has just dried up and there is a ferocious animal under the roof tiles.

Описание:
Girls Only! focuses on the practicalities of periods, the social and personal implications of starting your period, and the physical and emotional developments in puberty. It tells you what happens and when, what you need to know and how to prepare. It answers all the questions girls are dying to ask, but daren't, in a clear, friendly way, using real-life examples. It's the perfect first book about periods for girls of primary school age as it provides information at the right level. The tone is positive and reassuring and complemented by quirky illustrations throughout.

Описание:
Ostia is gripped by fever in the seventh Roman Mystery, and in the wake of chaos, the four detectives receive a summons from the Emperor.

Описание:
Vile and deadly, the monster Grendel rises from his dreggy pool in the night to seek out his victims and kill them in dreadful silence. Hrothgar, king of the Danes, sees no end to the bloodbath: too many of his brave warriors have been slaughtered. Yet there is one man who remains unafraid, one man capable of standing up to the fury of the terrifying monster and his evil mother - Beowulf. One of the world's great adventure stories, this tale was first told more than a thousand years ago. In Robert Nye's marvellous retelling, it is as spine-chilling as it was then.

Описание:
The third book in the phenomenal Thursday Next series from Number One bestselling author Jasper Fforde. In the words of one critic: "Don't ask. Just read it". Leaving Swindon behind her to hide out in the Well of Lost Plots (the place where all fiction is created), Thursday Next, Literary Detective and soon-to-be one parent family, ponders her next move from within an unpublished book of dubious merit entitled "Caversham Heights". Landen, her husband, is still eradicated, Aornis Hades is meddling with Thursday's memory, and Miss Havisham - when not sewing up plot-holes in "Mill on the Floss" - is trying to break the land-speed record on the A409. But something is rotten in the state of Jurisfiction. Perkins is "accidentally" eaten by the minotaur, and Snell succumbs to the Mispeling Vyrus. As a shadow looms over popular fiction, Thursday must keep her wits about her and discover not only what is going on, but also who she can trust to tell about it... With grammasites, holesmiths, trainee characters, pagerunners, baby dodos and an adopted home scheduled for demolition, "The Well of Lost Plots" is at once an addictively exciting adventure and an insight into how books are made, who makes them - and why there is no singular for "scampi". With grammasites, holesmiths, trainee characters, pagerunners, baby dodos and an adopted home scheduled for demolition, "The Well of Lost Plots" is at once an addictively exciting adventure and an insight into how books are made, who makes them - and why there is no singular for "scampi".

Описание:
English is the collective work of millions of people throughout the ages. It is democratic, ever-changing and ingenious in it's assimilation of other cultures. English runs through the heart of world finance, medicine and the Internet, and it is understood by around two thousand million people across the world. Yet it was very nearly wiped out in it's early years. In this book Melvyn Bragg shows us the remarkable story of the English language; from it's beginnings as a minor guttural Germanic dialect to it's position today as a truly established global language. THE ADVENTURE OF ENGLISH is not only an enthralling story of power, religion and trade, but also the story of people, and how their day-to-day lives shaped and continue to change the extraordinary language that is English.

Описание:
When the hero Vercingetorix was defeated he threw his arms at Julius Caesar's feet. Years later, Caesar plans to hold a triumph with his enemy's shield - but where is it? Romans and Gauls race to track it down, and Chief Vitalstatistix, dieting on a health farm, has a surprise to spring. Will Caesar defeat the Gauls again, or will the truimph go to Asterix?

Описание:
The second title in the number one bestselling CHERUB series! James mission is to try where dozens of attempts by undercover police officers have failed... When CHERUB kids go undercover, no one suspects that they are trained professionals, working to infiltrate criminal organisations that have eluded MI5 and the police for years. James Adams is on his biggest mission yet, working to nail Europe's most powerful cocaine dealer. He'll need all his specialist training if he's going to bring down the man at the top. The reason for CHERUB's existence is simple: adults never suspect that children are spying on them. For official purposes, these children do not exist.

Описание:
Imagine a Middle-Eastern country that was once a friend of the West becoming an enemy, it's people starving and savagely repressed by a tyrant known as Great Uncle. As a celebrated writer and war hero, the man who here relates his story has a better life than most, until he is made an offer he can't refuse. He must write a great novel, telling of the suffering of his people under the enemy's cruel economic sanctions and portraying Great Uncle as their saviour. This masterpiece must be completed in time for it's international debut in three months - or else. If the writer cannot - or will not - meet the tyrant's deadline, he and anyone he cares for will pay the ultimate price. Stark, terrifying and utterly compelling, "THE TYRANT'S NOVEL" is both a gripping thriller and a chilling glimpse of a fictional world that seems all too real.

Описание:
A terrorist doesn't let strangers in her flat because they might be undercover police or intelligence agents, but her children bring their mates home and they run all over the place. The terrorist doesn't know that a kid has bugged every room in her house, cloned the hard drive on her PC, and copied all the numbers in her phone book. The kid works for CHERUB. CHERUB is not James Bond. There are no master criminals or high-tech gadgets. CHERUB kids live in the real world. They slip under adult radar and get information that sends criminals and terrorists to jail. For official purposes, these children do not exist.