Showing results by narrator "Jot Davies" in All Categories

Charles Foster wanted to know what it was like to be a beast: a badger, an otter, a deer, a fox, a swift. What it was really like. And through knowing what it was like, he wanted to get down and grapple with the beast in us all. So he tried it out; he lived life as a badger for six weeks, sleeping in a dirt hole and eating earthworms. He came face to face with shrimps as he lived like an otter and he spent hours curled up in a back garden in East London and rooting in bins like an urban fox.

Rookie barrister George Winsome, young and arrogant, defends an old boy who thinks he’s Merlin on a manslaughter charge. The riotous trial turns Merlin into a celebrity; money, greed and ambition take hold of George and his partner, Heather, until the secret of Merlin’s past is revealed as the spirit of Saint Yves intervenes to ensure George and Heather follow their true paths.

The ideal of freedom is at the heart of our political and economic system. It is foundational to our sense of justice, our way of life, our conception of what it is to be human. But are we free in the way that we think we are? In Creating Freedom, Raoul Martinez brings together a torrent of mind-expanding ideas, facts and arguments to dismantle sacred myths central to our society - myths about free will, free markets, free media and free elections.

On an ordinary Saturday morning in 1996, the residents of Nightingale Point wake up to their normal lives and worries. Mary has a secret life that no one knows about, not even Malachi and Tristan, the brothers she vowed to look after. Malachi had to grow up too quickly. Between looking after Tristan and nursing a broken heart, he feels older than his 21 years. Tristan wishes Malachi would stop pining for Pamela. No wonder he's falling in with the wrong crowd, without Malachi to keep him straight.

Welcome to Victorian London; the home of the Artful Dodger, Sherlock Holmes... and Ben Kingdom, cocky street urchin - and the saviour of mankind. Unknown to mere mortals, an ancient battle is being waged across the city.

The new novel from David Baddiel, comedian, columnist and author of the critically-praised The Secret Purposes.As Eli Gold, a famous old writer lies dying in a hospital in New York, his family gather around his bed. His first wife Violet is too old to travel from London but Harvey, their son, who has never emerged from the shadow of his overpowering father, makes the journey. And there is Colette, a six-year old daughter from a second marriage, struggling to make sense of the fact her father is about to leave her.

A wonderful story written by the children's laureate Michael Morpurgo.One morning, while chopping wood in the forest, Tod notices a small white fawn fleeing the King’s hunt. Swiftly, Tod gathers the fawn into his arms and runs back to his father’s cottage. As the years go by, the fawn grows into a magnificent white stag, and the bonds between boy and deer grow strong. But Tod has yet to face a great test of his devotion to the The King in the Forest.

We've all had sleepless nights thinking about it. You're home alone. Someone breaks in. In defending yourself, you end up killing the intruder. Now you're the one the police want. That is the situation that criminal barrister Paul Reeve arrives home to find. His wife, Alice, stands in the bedroom, clutching a bloodied letter opener in her shaking hand. 'What have you done, Alice?' 'I didn't have a choice....' We would all believe the person we love most.

From Socrates' fascinating discussions of morality and virtue to Pythagoras' attempts to understand the arrangement of the cosmos, the thinkers of the ancient world provided us with an astonishing array of ideas that has helped to shape the modern world. Ranging across Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy from Anaximander to Plotinus, Knowledge in a Nutshell: Classical Philosophy explains important ideas such as Plato's Theory of Forms, Zeno's Paradox, and the Stoicism of Marcus Aurelius. This essential introduction brings the great ideas of antiquity to everyone.

Jlm lives in a fishing village - but no-one goes fishing anymore as all the fish have gone. One day, Jim spots a dolphin beached on the sand. He runs to get help, and everyone works together to return the dolphin to the water. Afterwards, the dolphin stays in the harbour, playing with the swimmers - and he even carries Jim on his back!

How does one talk about love? buffoonery, n. "You were drunk, and I made the mistake of mentioning Showgirls in a near-empty subway car. The pole had no idea what it was about to endure." In this enchanting compendium of Love, David Leviathan charts the moving portrait of a relationship - starting with: aberrant, adj. '"'I don't normally do this kind of thing,' you said. 'Neither do I,' I assured you…."

Meet Jack: Dadness. Women have a sixth sense for it. But, lately, as I've looked around, all I've seen is temptation. From random women in the pub to my foxy new boss...they've left me doubting whether I've really been put out to pasture at all.... Meet Amy: Motherhood, I've discovered, is the great leveller. Having kids automatically makes me the same as all the other mums in 'The Coven' up the park. And being 'the same' makes me want to do something terribly rash - like rediscover the impulsive person I used to be.

On a typical afternoon, teenage Joe is being chased by bullies from school when he accidentally runs through a portal to another world. He finds himself in a training camp for a group of teenage boys and girls who will become Runners. Each cycle, three Runners are sent to place the power sources that will secure the shield that protects their land, Carcassia, and keeps the enemy Kabanians at bay.

In this surreal comedy of soldiers and spies, Lieutenant James Churchill and his colleagues find themselves questioning their purpose. These men of action will travel between the barracks, the lunatic asylum and the house of an aristocratic nymphomaniac in search of answers. For while few know the awful truth about Operation Apollo, the mission they are being trained for, fewer still understand the motives of the powerful psychiatrist Dr Best, who thinks he is surrounded by repressed homosexuals, and none know the identity of the secret agent among them.

A robber holds up a Canadian bank but instead of stealing money he takes from each person the item of most sentimental value. As time passes the loss of these items have a dramatic effect on the victims: one discovers God under her sofa, another is attacked by her lion tattoo when it comes to life, and the wife of our narrator starts to shrink.

Meet Jack. Jack Rossiter. I'm 27 years old, single and live with my best mate, Matt. Matt and I started hanging out when we were eight. Life was simpler then. Meet Amy. Sometimes in my darker moments I've thought about applying to go on Blind Date. Actually it's a bit of a worry. I think it's my warped way of telling myself something's got to change. Now find out what happens when they meet each other....

It is a well-known fact that fairies are born from a baby's first laugh. What is not as well documented is how monsters come into being. This is the story of a creature who is both strange and unique. When he hatches down in the vast underground lair where monsters dwell, he looks just like a human boy - much to the disgust of everyone watching. Even the grumpy gargoyles who adopt him and nickname him ‘Imp’ only want him to steal chocolate for them from the nearby shops. He’s a child with feet in both worlds, and he doesn’t know where he fits.

Meet the Puppies Online! Einstein the brainy dachshund, Puzzle the snoozy sheepdog, and Bounce the speedy spaniel spend their holidays at a very special kind of kennels - a lighthouse by the sea! But there's no time for sunbathing. The woof-tastic trio meet the evil Mike Dodger, discover an ancient treasure map and find themselves caught up in a race against time. Luckily the pups are equipped with all the latest online gadgets and tech know-how. But will their super skills be enough to sniff out the treasure before Mike does?

From the multi award-winning creator of the modern classic Meerkat Mail, Sunny the meerkat travels the world in the search of the perfect Christmas. Sunny wants a white Christmas, with a decorated tree, carols and sprouts for dinner...none of which he can see at home in the Kalahari desert. So off he heads to find the perfect Christmas elsewhere, before realising that maybe Christmas isn't all about the trimmings.

Following Peter Newman's brilliant debut, The Vagrant. This is the much-anticipated sequel, The Malice. In the south, the Breach stirs. Gamma's sword, the Malice, wakes, calling to be taken to battle once more. But the Vagrant has found a home now, made a life, and so he turns his back, ignoring its call. The sword cries out, frustrated, until another answers. Her name is Vesper.