After the death of his brilliant, eccentric father, Adam Dudding went in search of the stories and secrets of a man who had been a loving parent and husband, but was also a tormented, controlling and at times cruel man.Robin Dudding was the greatest New Zealand literary editor of his generation – friend and mentor of many of our best-known writers. At his peak he published the country's finest literary journal on the smell of an oily rag from a falling-down house overflowing with books, long-haired children and chickens – an island of nonconformity in the heart of 1970s Auckland suburbia. Yet when Robin's uncompromising integrity tipped into something much more self-destructive, a dark shadow fell over his career and personal life.In My Father's Island, Adam Dudding writes frankly about the rise and fall of an unconventional cultural figure. But this is also a moving, funny and deeply personal story of a family, of a marriage, of feuds and secret loves...

It was rumoured that Hollywood stars would go down on their knees for the privilege of being photographed by the good-looking, brilliantly talented and ultra-fashionable portrait photographer Leslie Searle. But what was such a gifted creature doing in such an English village backwater of Salcott St Mary? And why — and how — did he disappear? If a crime had been committed, was it murder… fraud… or simply some macabre practical joke?

From the world of Dirty Bertie comes a new star! A brand new series from David Roberts, creator of Dirty Bertie, Angela Nicely is already well known to Bertie's fans. Angela might look like she's made of sugar and spice and all things nice, but nothing could be further from the truth! Angela knows best! Whether it's trying to succeed as a top model, proving that her head teacher wears a wig, or finding herself out of her depth on a spa weekend, she's determined to make a splash! Angela Nicely is the first book in this fantastically mischievous series. Perfect for little girls who are fans of Dirty Bertie.

The amazing tale of one of history's most daring acts of biopiracy-and how it changed history In this thrilling real-life account of bravery, greed, obsession, and ultimate betrayal, award- winning writer Joe Jackson brings to life the story of fortune hunter Henry Wickham and his collaboration with the empire that fueled, then abandoned him. In 1876, Wickham smuggled 70,000 rubber tree seeds out of the rainforests of Brazil and delivered them to Victorian England's most prestigious scientists at Kew Gardens. The story of how Wickham got his hands on those seeds-and the history-making consequences-is the stuff of legend. The Thief at the End of the World is an exciting true story of reckless courage and ambition that perfectly captures the essential nature of Great Britain's colonial adventure in South America.

Would-be superhero Charlotte Powers leaves the safety of her family's secret volcano base in order to find and subsequently fight the forces of evil.

Bertie's tenth book features three brand new stories! Join everyone's favourite trouble-magnet as he finds himself desperate to go to the loo on the school coach, up to his neck in sand and trouble on holiday, and staging a one-man protest to stop Mum and Dad from selling the house!

A mind-expanding dive into a lost chapter of 1968, featuring the famous and forgotten: Van Morrison, folkie-turned-cult-leader Mel Lyman, Timothy Leary, James Brown, and many more Van Morrison's Astral Weeks is an iconic rock album shrouded in legend, a masterpiece that has touched generations of listeners and influenced everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Martin Scorsese. In his first book, acclaimed rock musician and journalist Ryan H. Walsh unearths the album's fascinating backstory—along with the untold secrets of the time and place that birthed it: Boston 1968.On the 50th anniversary of that tumultuous year, Walsh's book follows a criss-crossing cast of musicians and visionaries, artists and "hippie entrepreneurs," from a young Tufts English professor who walks into a job as a host for TV's wildest show (one episode required two sets, each tuned to a different channel) to the mystically inclined owner of radio station WBCN, who believed he...