Download or read book A Very British Christmas The perfect festive stocking filler written by Rhodri Marsden and published by HarperCollins UK. This book was released on 2017-11-02 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘Funny, touching and ludicrously British.’ India Knight‘Makes Christmas slightly less awful’ Al Murray

Download or read book A Very British Christmas written by Rhodri Marsden and published by HQ. This book was released on 2017-10-23 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imagine if all your Christmases did actually "come at once". That idiom is supposed to evoke an image of delight, happiness and nothing going wrong, but the British Christmas doesn't always turn out that way. Yes, sometimes all the gifts are perfect, everyone's on great form and no one chokes on a mince pie. But on other occasions you'll fall through a glass cabinet or set your cardigan on fire. A Very British Christmas pays tribute to all the peculiar ways we choose to celebrate; it tells stories of our propensity to behave badly, our uselessness under pressure and our unquenchable joie de vivre. Join us as we salute cultural icons, dissect national customs and hear from people who've eaten all the turkey and lived to tell the tale. Tidings of discomfort, tidings of joy.

Download or read book Organizing Christmas written by Philip Hancock and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2023-08-11 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Organizing Christmas is an exploration of the organizational character of Christmas. Taking as its starting point the view that Christmas initially achieved popularity due to its potential to promote social cohesion and political stability, this book both charts and scrutinizes its global emergence as the year's preeminent economic and organizational event. Combining historical narrative, original interviews, and social scientific research and theories, it tells the story of how Christmas has come to dominate the festival landscape and how it emerged as an integral component of the global evolution of contemporary social and economic relations. From the pre-Christian celebrations and politics of the turning of the calendar year, through the power games of Elizabethan England and the wily reinvention of the season by industrious Victorians, to today’s huge economic and logistical exercise that relies on everything from global supply chains to the domestic division of labour, Organizing Christmas demonstrates how the season exemplifies the spirit and practices of industrial, and now post-industrial, modernity. As well as documenting this fact, however, Organizing Christmas also critically interrogates what has become a vast festive-industrial complex. From low-paid factory workers in Yiwu to Santa Claus performers in Kingston, readers are given a chance to consider what the cost of this global festival might be and whether it is a price worth paying. Drawing on intellectual resources ranging from Adorno and Horkheimer’s classic critique of the culture industry, thorough Böhme’s analysis of the sociomaterial production of atmospheres, to Bloch’s ‘principle of hope’, it paints a picture of Christmas as a profoundly important, if deeply contested historical, cultural and, most significantly, organizational phenomenon. Aimed at students and academics in Organization Studies, Cultural Studies, and the Sociology of Work and Employment, as well as the general reader interested in the festive season, Organizing Christmas offers a differing perspective on a subject so familiar and yet so often overlooked.

Download or read book Crap Dates written by Rhodri Marsden and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2013-09-10 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A good date can be exhilarating: a shared joke, an improbable spark, long moments of gazing fondly into each other's eyes. Not so for the dating disasters featured in this collection of laugh-out-loud actual tweets about the most terrible evenings imaginable. From seriously unwelcome confessions, to dousing dates in wine, to bringing them back to creepy apartments to meet favorite stuffed animals, here are the funniest and most alarming reports from dating's front lines. Along the way, author Rhodri Marsden offers tips on how to identify and avoid the worst of the bad daters, including married men, blatant liars, deluded optimists, and more. This harrowing collection of real nightmare dates will amuse anyone who's suffered through one of cupid's off nights.

Download or read book The 12 Days of Christmas written by Poppy Alexander and published by Orion. This book was released on 2021-11-11 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A real festive treat' JULES WAKE 'Heart-melting and mouthwatering, this Christmas treat is as sweet and delicious as a marron glacé' VERONICA HENRY 'A festive romance that reminds us of the importance of living in the moment' HELEN ROLFE 'Deliciously romantic' WOMAN'S OWN 'Such a warm, delightful Christmas tale' CATHERINE MILLER 'All the joy of Christmas in one delicious, utterly mouth-watering package' JULIE CAPLIN 'Romantic and uplifting' WOMAN & HOME 'Charming, full of festive fun and romance' MY WEEKLY 'Utterly brilliant' CLAIRE WADE The most magical time of the year... For the first time in ten years, Freya is back in the little village of Middlemass for Christmas. The streets might be twinkling with fairy lights, but after the recent loss of her mother, she's never felt less festive. Forced to sleep under the same roof as her handsome neighbour Finn, Freya realises she's going to need a distraction - fast! So she sets herself a challenge: to cook the '12 Days of Christmas'. Her delicious food soon brings the villagers together, and as each day passes, old friendships are renewed, memories stirred and there's even the flickering of romance... She was only meant to stay for the holidays, but could Middlemass - and Finn - steal her heart forever? *** Praise for Poppy Alexander: 'Friendship, community and a little bit of romance - what's not to love?' Mandy Baggot 'Books, bats and romance...a perfect escape. I loved spending time with the characters of Middlemas.' Liz Fenwick 'My first Poppy Alexander book but definitely not my last. What a lovely, engaging, perceptive story The Littlest Library is' Sue Moorcroft 'Five of the biggest stars for The Littlest Library. I thoroughly enjoyed spending some time with Jess and her phone box full of books.' Catherine Miller 'I loved everything about this book. It is filled with so much warmth, gentle humour and some very heart touching moments' Sue Fortin 'A great festive read.' NetGalley Reviewer 'This book was literally one of my favourite reads this year!' NetGalley Reviewer

Download or read book Faulks on Fiction Includes 4 FREE Vintage Classics Great British Characters and the Secret Life of the Novel written by Sebastian Faulks and published by Random House. This book was released on 2011-01-27 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The publication of Robinson Crusoe in London in 1719 marked the arrival of a revolutionary art form: the novel. British writers were prominent in shaping the new type of storytelling - one which reflected the experiences of ordinary people, with characters in whom readers could find not only an escape, but a deeper understanding of their own lives. But the novel was more than just a reflection of British life. As Sebastian Faulks explains in this engaging literary and social history, it also helped invent the British. By focusing not on writers but on the people they gave us, Faulks not only celebrates the recently neglected act of novelistic creation but shows how the most enduring fictional characters over the centuries have helped map the British psyche - through heroes from Tom Jones to Sherlock Holmes, lovers from Mr Darcy to Lady Chatterley, villains from Fagin to Barbara Covett and snobs from Emma Woodhouse to James Bond. Also included in this fantastic ebook package are four free classic novels: Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: The legendary story of a marine adventurer shipwrecked on a desert island. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: Accomplished Elizabeth Bennett must navigate a web of familial obligations and social expectations in this witty drama of friendship, rivalry, enmity and love. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens: Pip's life as an ordinary country boy is destined to be unexceptional until a chain of mysterious events lead him away from his humble origins and up the social ladder. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins: Marian and her sister Laura live a quiet life under their uncle's guardianship until Laura marries Sir Percival Glyde, a man of many secrets. Can she be protected from a mysterious and potentially fatal plot?

Download or read book What Makes This Book So Great written by Jo Walton and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2014-01-21 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As any reader of Jo Walton's Among Others might guess, Walton is both an inveterate reader of SF and fantasy, and a chronic re-reader of books. In 2008, then-new science-fiction mega-site Tor.com asked Walton to blog regularly about her re-reading—about all kinds of older fantasy and SF, ranging from acknowledged classics, to guilty pleasures, to forgotten oddities and gems. These posts have consistently been among the most popular features of Tor.com. Now this volumes presents a selection of the best of them, ranging from short essays to long reassessments of some of the field's most ambitious series. Among Walton's many subjects here are the Zones of Thought novels of Vernor Vinge; the question of what genre readers mean by "mainstream"; the underappreciated SF adventures of C. J. Cherryh; the field's many approaches to time travel; the masterful science fiction of Samuel R. Delany; Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children; the early Hainish novels of Ursula K. Le Guin; and a Robert A. Heinlein novel you have most certainly never read. Over 130 essays in all, What Makes This Book So Great is an immensely readable, engaging collection of provocative, opinionated thoughts about past and present-day fantasy and science fiction, from one of our best writers. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Download or read book Plan a Happy Life Define Your Passion Nurture Your Creativity and Take Hold of Your Dreams written by Stephanie Fleming and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2020-08-25 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the creator of the immensely popular Happy Planner and Me and My BIG Ideas, Stephanie Fleming, comes Plan a Happy Life(TM)--a delightfully practical book that shows you how to simplify, organize, and live with intention, all while having fun.

Download or read book Finding Joy Beyond Childlessness written by Lesley Pyne and published by . This book was released on 2018-06-18 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: You wanted to be a mother and for some reason it didn't happen. Now you're feeling devastated, sad, angry, disappointed, (I could go on) Mostly, you're hiding your true self from the world. And it hurts. A lot. You're not alone.In Finding Joy Beyond Childlessness, Lesley Pyne uses her life experience as a childless woman, the experiences of other childless women from all over the world, and her skills as a coach and NLP Master Practitioner to gently guide readers through their pain, using practical advice and exercises, to help them reach the other side to find their joy. Finding Joy Beyond Childlessness helps you: Understand why the story you tell yourself is important, how to change it and stop it holding you back.Learn different ways of moving through the grieving process including, letting go, connecting with your feelings and your body, self-acceptance, and writing. Recognize the importance of gratitude and how to find joy again.Explore how you've changed during the process and gently learn how to find fulfillment now and in the future.¿Lesley Pyne is childless and has lost both parents, and now is able to say confidently 'I absolutely love my life, the adventures I'm having, and I'm excited about what will happen next.'

Download or read book Reasons to Stay Alive written by Matt Haig and published by Canongate Books. This book was released on 2015-03-05 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *MATT HAIG’S NEW NOVEL THE LIFE IMPOSSIBLE IS AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW * Order THE COMFORT BOOK. Available now! THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FEEL TRULY ALIVE? Aged 24, Matt Haig's world caved in. He could see no way to go on living. This is the true story of how he came through crisis, triumphed over an illness that almost destroyed him and learned to live again. A moving, funny and joyous exploration of how to live better, love better and feel more alive, Reasons to Stay Alive is more than a memoir. It is a book about making the most of your time on earth. 'I wrote this book because the oldest clichés remain the truest. Time heals. The bottom of the valley never provides the clearest view. The tunnel does have light at the end of it, even if we haven't been able to see it . . . Words, just sometimes, really can set you free.'

Download or read book I Love Jesus But I Want to Die written by Sarah J. Robinson and published by WaterBrook. This book was released on 2021-05-11 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.

Download or read book Christmas Days written by Jeanette Winterson and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2018-11 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Sunday TelegraphBook of the Year'Winterson?s winter tales unfailingly succeed in their endeavor to leave you aglow? - Guardian For years Jeanette Winterson has written a new story at Christmas time and here she brings together twelve of her brilliantly imaginative, funny, and bold tales, along with twelve delicious recipes for the twelve days of Christmas.

Download or read book It Gets Worse written by NICHOLAS. LEZARD and published by . This book was released on 2019-08-15 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It Gets Worse is the second instalment of Nicholas Lezard's rueful, dissolute life. Beginning where his first volume, Bitter Experience Has Taught Me, ended, Nick's fortunes have not improved. At home in the Hovel, his bachelor existence makes a further descent into chaos, yet the misadventures are faced with sardonic wit, pathos and something like dissident wisdom.

Download or read book The Broadview Anthology of British Literature Concise Edition Volume A Fourth Edition written by Joseph Black and published by Broadview Press. This book was released on 2024-06-11 with total page 1935 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The two-volume Broadview Anthology of British Literature, Concise Edition provides an attractive alternative to the full six-volume anthology. Though much more compact, the concise edition nevertheless provides a thoughtful balance between well-established canonical authors and a diverse array of lesser-known works. Guided by the latest scholarship in British literary studies, the anthology is committed to inclusiveness, social responsibility, and contextualization. With an unparalleled number of illustrations and contextual materials, accessible and engaging introductions, and full explanatory annotations, the concise edition of this acclaimed Broadview anthology provides focused yet wide-ranging coverage for British literature survey courses. Among the works now included for the first time in the bound book of the Concise Edition, Volume A are poems by Gwerful Mechain, selections from Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron, Samson Occom’s autobiography, and selections from Samuel Richardson’s Pamela and Frances Burney’s Evelina. There are also new omnibus sections, including an expanded “Culture: A Portfolio” section with material on early modern theater and crossdressing, a revised section on “Other Lands, Other Cultures” in the early modern period, and sections addressing “The Enlightenment,” “Slavery and Resistance,” and “Empire and Enterprise.”

Download or read book The British Workwoman written by and published by . This book was released on 1870 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Less Effect written by Samantha Joy and published by . This book was released on 2022-12-23 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We've all experienced discontent in our lives at one point or another, waking up each day and going to sleep each night completely unfulfilled. We feel like something is missing but can't put our finger on what that is. Today's world is custom-built to pull our attention in a hundred and fifty directions, telling us who we should be and how we should live to become an acceptable member of society. We fall prey to the endless cycle of consumerism and information overload. Before we know it, we wake up questioning how the hell we got here in the first place."The Less Effect" is about becoming conscious to the physical environment, social relationships, and daily habits we surround ourselves with so we can clear away what is holding us back and follow our true passion. We spend so much of our lives continuously adding more to solve our problems that, over time, we completely lose sight of who we are underneath it all. When we become more aware of our surroundings and remove what no longer serves us, we are able to tap into our most authentic self and design a life of happiness and purpose.It simply starts with living a life of less.

Download or read book The Broadview Anthology of British Literature Volume 1 The Medieval Period Revised Third Edition written by Joseph Black and published by Broadview Press. This book was released on 2023-03-16 with total page 971 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In all six of its volumes The Broadview Anthology of British Literature presents British literature in a truly distinctive light. Fully grounded in sound literary and historical scholarship, the anthology takes a fresh approach to many canonical authors, and includes a wide selection of work by lesser-known writers. The anthology also provides wide-ranging coverage of the worldwide connections of British literature, and it pays attention throughout to issues of race, gender, class, and sexual orientation. It includes comprehensive introductions to each period, providing in each case an overview of the historical and cultural as well as the literary background. It features accessible and engaging headnotes for all authors, extensive explanatory annotations, and an unparalleled number of illustrations and contextual materials. Innovative, authoritative and comprehensive, The Broadview Anthology of British Literature has established itself as a leader in the field. The full anthology comprises six bound volumes, together with an extensive website component; the latter has been edited, annotated, and designed according to the same high standards as the bound book component of the anthology, and is accessible by using the passcode obtained with the purchase of one or more of the bound volumes. In the revised third edition of this volume, the term “Anglo-Saxon” has been removed from our editorial apparatus—a change made in response to recent scholarly work that has drawn attention to the term’s historical and current usage by white supremacists. We have also taken the opportunity to implement a small number of additional improvements. We have also taken the opportunity to implement a small number of additional improvements; the pagination, however, remains the same.