Other books that might interest you

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  The Noughties - From Glitz to Gloom

  Brenda Power

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  A decade of easy living or a decade of broken dreams? Brenda Power chronicles the defining issues of the Noughties, covering a breadth of social, political and public interest issues. Her comments are frequently controversial and generate huge responses, such as her 2009 article on gay marriage. She tackles difficult and divisive subjects without fear or favour. Her views on the rapid changes in Irish society during the boom years are a fascinating commentary on the values and practices of that extraordinary period in Irish history. These snap-shots highlight issues that shaped our lives in Ireland in recent years.

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  Telling Tales Out of School - A...

  Jonathan Sale

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  WHICH UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE PRESENTER FAILED HIS ELEMENTARY MATHS O LEVEL SIX TIMES? FOR WHICH DRAGONS' DEN INVESTOR WAS FLOGGING LEATHER JACKETS A LUNCH BREAK ACTIVITY? WHICH ENVIRONMENTALIST WAS EXPELLED AT PRIMARY SCHOOL FOR ATTEMPTING TO POISON HIS CLASSMATES WITH DEADLY NIGHTSHADE? WHICH ADVENTURER AND EXPLORER SPENT HIS TIME AT ETON SHINNING UP THE ARCHITECTURE? Through intimate conversations with journalist Jonathan Sale, some of Britain's leading personalities reminisce about their school and college days, revealing the portents, paths and false starts that led them to where they are today. With poignant and hilarious anecdotes spanning everything from those very first days at school to receiving their dreaded O level, A level and degree results, this book is brimming with recollections that every reader can associate with. Tributes are paid to the teachers who opened doors, whilst others tell tales on those who slammed them in their faces. And all credit to the teachers who were truly prophetic about their pupils. These personalities may be reticent with regard to their adult personal lives, but speak candidly about their childhoods, revealing fascinating insights into the role their formative years played in shaping them to become the people they are today.

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  Ladies

  Anton Chekhov

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  "Ladies" by Anton Chekhov tells the story of Fyodor Petrovitch, the Director of Elementary Schools in the N. District, who offers a vacant post to a schoolmaster, Vremensky, who lost his voice. However, when Fyodor Petrovitch's wife, Nastasya Ivanovna, asks him to consider Polzuhin, a young man she knows, for the same post, Fyodor Petrovitch refuses, stating that he does not give posts through patronage. Despite his refusal, he begins receiving letters recommending Polzuhin for the position, and Polzuhin himself appears before Fyodor Petrovitch. In the end, Fyodor Petrovitch, tired of the pressure, gives the post to Polzuhin, leaving Vremensky in a dire situation. The story is a satire on the corrupt nature of patronage and nepotism in society. Read in English, unabridged.

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  Marriage Material

  Sathnam Sanghera

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  A London graphic designer is suddenly forced to take over his South Asian family’s convenience store in this “hugely enjoyable” novel (The Sunday Express).   “Sathnam Sanghera’s witty first novel chronicles three generations of a Punjabi Indian family in England. After his father dies, Arjan Banga, a graphic designer in London, returns to the dreary West Midlands to help run the family convenience store. The move causes tension with his white fiancée, Freya, whom his mother regards with passive-aggressive disapproval. Arjan must explain to customers that ‘as a Sikh I was not expected to marry my cousin or join Al Qaeda’ and smile politely at their interpretations of his name (‘Mind if I call you Andy?’). Torn between familial duty and the freedom he enjoys in London, he gains unlikely clarity from his dimwitted friend Ranjit—a pot-smoking devotee of Steven Seagal movies, Xbox and hip-hop. Arjan’s woes are comic, but the novel’s depth is evident as it sheds light on the economic and political struggles of immigrants.” —The New York Times    From an author whose work has been shortlisted for Costa and PEN Awards, this novel about a man trapped between British and Punjabi culture is “filled with details of the lives of Sikhs from the late ’60s to the riots of 2011. The divisions within the Sikh population are poignantly and comically captured in the protests against the Wolverhampton Transport Department’s ban on turbans” (Los Angeles Review of Books).   “Sanghera’s precise, hilarious rendition of voices and cultural details is the signal pleasure of a novel rich in humor, history, and heart.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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  Undeniably Indiana - Hoosiers...

  Press Indiana University

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  In this first crowdsourced book about Indiana, ordinary Hoosiers from all corners of the state share the eclectic, wonderful, and sometimes wacky stories that are undeniably Indiana. These true tales highlight the variety of Hoosier life—fond recollections of hometowns, legendary anecdotes of the past, Indiana's unpredictable weather, favorite foods (there's more than corn!), and chance encounters with unforgettable and infamous people. And, of course, there's always basketball. Written for anyone who has ever called this great state home, Undeniably Indiana provides the answer to the widespread question, "What is a Hoosier?"

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  Learning to Drive

  William Norwich

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  A member of New York City’s glitterati careens down memory lane in this debut novel by the gossip columnist and Vogue editor-at-large.   In 1980s New York City, Julian Orr has made himself into the ultimate insider—a journalist at a glossy fashion and gossip magazine and resident expert on contemporary urban living. But now, at the advanced age of thirty-seven, he’s about to embark on a totally new venture: learning to drive. His ultimate goal is to drive himself out of the city to visit his parents' graves and the small Connecticut town where he grew up.   But confronting his difficult childhood will be a breeze compared to the trials he faces at the hand of his not-quite-hinged driving instructor. What begins as an innocent act of personal liberation escalates soon escalates into a fiasco of front page proportions in this funny, poignant and personal debut novel.   The e-book edition published in 2019 includes a new preface by the author.

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