A practicing psychologist—one of the top popularizers of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)—offers a fresh, welcome approach for treating mental health issues that speaks to our times, blending mindfulness and spirituality with CBT to effectively overcome negative thinking, achieve deep healing, and truly attain lasting peace.

Mental health professionals have numerous tools and techniques to help their patients battle depression and illness. But while these methods can alleviate the pain, they are often only temporary. Based on his extensive knowledge of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and his personal experience with depression and illness, Dr. Seth J. Gillihan believes we need to do more than relieve our symptoms to become healthy and whole. To achieve long-lasting wellness and good health, we must embrace the spiritual in our healing.

By incorporating insights from both Christianity and Buddhism and mindfulness into the therapeutic process, we can exponentially magnify the healing CBT provides. Gillihan calls his method Mindful Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and shows how it can be used successfully to master negative thoughts and behaviours and choose the right actions to become fully present and at peace in our daily lives.

This extraordinary guide shows how to banish the stubborn lies we tell ourselves—that we're unlovable, stupid, unworthy, defective—and adapt new healthful and spiritual practices that can help us retrain our minds to focus on the deep truths of our existence—that we are perfect in our imperfections, and most important, that we are beings deserving of love.

MINDFUL COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY by Seth J. Gillihan, read by Sean Patrick Hopkins

This second half of Lady Joker, by Kaoru Takamura, the Grand Dame of Japanese crime fiction, concludes the breathtaking saga introduced in Volume I.

Inspired by the real-life Glico-Morinaga kidnapping, an unsolved case that terrorized Japan for two years, Lady Joker reimagines the circumstances of this watershed episode in modern Japanese history and brings into riveting focus the lives and motivations of the victims, the perpetrators, the heroes and the villains. As the shady networks linking corporations to syndicates are brought to light, the stakes rise, and some of the professionals we have watched try to fight their way through this crisis will lose everything—some even their lives. Will the culprits ever be brought to justice? More importantly—what is justice?

Searching For Enough: The High-Wire Walk Between Doubt and Faith

LADY JOKER: VOLUME 2 by Kaoru Takamura, read by Brian Nishii - audiobook extract

A blisteringly funny, heartbreaking novel about 20-something British Ghanaian Maddie as she grapples with identity, love, loss and becoming the woman she wants to be—for fans of Chewing Gum, Such a Fun Age and Queenie.

Mum calls me Maame. It has many meanings in Twi, but in my case, it means woman.

Meet Maddie.

To her mostly absent mum, she's Maame, the woman of the family. To her dad, she's his carer—even if he hardly recognises her. To her friends, she's the one who still lives at home, who never puts herself first.

It's time to become the woman she wants to be.

The kind who wears a bright yellow suit, says yes to after-work drinks and flirts with a 30-something banker. Who doesn't have to Google all her life choices. Who demands a seat at the table.

But to put ourselves together, sometimes we have to fall apart....

Heartbreaking, sharply funny and achingly relatable, Maame is an irresistibly fresh coming-of-age story with a heroine you'll never forget.

MAAME by Jessica George, read by Heather Agyepong - audiobook extract

Jennifer Cohen, a superstar motivational coach, illuminates how to get the life you want by being bold, resilient, and creating specific goals and habits.

'I know what it takes to get what you want in life. It's a habit anyone can learn, a skill you can develop, a gift you don't need to be born with. The more experience you get, the more confident you'll be. Even when you fail, you'll feel stronger with each try you make. At work, at home, wherever your life unfolds—be bold. Take action. Ask for the right things. Chase what you want instead of taking what you can get. What do you want most in life, and why don't you have it?'

Think about the things that give your life depth, focus, and meaning: deeply satisfying relationships with plenty of give and take, physical health and emotional wellbeing, passion projects, self-esteem, and self-respect. Bold people have these things. Bold people recognize what's holding them back—and it's almost always a fear of failure. They train to overcome their fears, they embrace the 10% Target, and they create everyday, life-long habits to get what they want.

Bigger, Better, Bolder brings listeners one step closer to boldness, one chapter at a time. With practical takeaways and action steps-bite-sized Bold Moves—and real-life case studies of boldness in action, Jennifer Cohen teaches you how to get what you want.

BIGGER, BETTER, BOLDER written and read by Jennifer Cohen - audiobook extract

'It's summer. I stand where perhaps Ellen stood, in this ground thick with new thistle and long grass. She would have ken this coast in all weathers: in the summer when it was as gentle as a lake and in the winter, with the high winds and stinging salt spray.'

A beautifully written journey through Scottish history and across the Scottish landscape in search of the women accused and killed during the witch hunts.

Ashes and Stones is a moving and personal journey, along rugged coasts and through remote villages and modern cities, in search of the traces of those accused of witchcraft in seventeenth-century Scotland. We visit modern memorials, roadside shrines and standing stones, and roam among forests and hedge mazes, folk lore and political fantasies. From fairy hills to forgotten caves, we explore a spellbound landscape.

Allyson Shaw untangles the myth of witchcraft and gives voice to those erased by it. Her elegant and lucid prose weaves threads of history and feminist reclamation, alongside beautiful travel, nature and memoir writing, to create a vibrant memorial. This is the untold story of the witches' monuments of Scotland and the women's lives they mark. Ashes and Stones is a trove of folklore linking the lives of modern women to the horrors of the past, and it is record of resilience and a call to choose and remember our ancestors.

Buy audiobook

ASHES AND STONES by Allyson Shaw, read by Lucy Paterson - audiobook extract

Birmingham, 1933.

Private enquiry agent William Garrett, a man damaged by a dark childhood spent on Birmingham's canals, specialises in facilitating divorces for the city's male elite. With the help of his best friend - charming, out-of-work actor Ronnie Edgerton - William sets up honey traps. But photographing unsuspecting women in flagrante plagues his conscience and William heaves up his guts with remorse after every job.

However, William's life changes when he accidentally meets the beautiful Clara Morton and falls in love. Little does he know she is the wife of a client - a leading fascist with a dangerous obsession. And what should have been another straightforward job turns into something far more deadly.

Drenched in evocative period atmosphere and starring an unforgettable cast of characters, Needless Alley takes the listener from seedy canal-side pubs, to crumbling Warwickshire manor houses, and into the hidden spaces of Birmingham's queer, bohemian society.

NEEDLESS ALLEY by Natalie Marlow, read by Paul Dela Ross - audiobook extract

A powerful exploration of what justice truly means for survivors of sexual violence, abuse, and trauma.

Part manifesto, part exploration of what justice truly means for survivors of trauma and abuse, Judith Herman forces us to reconsider our perspective on victims, revealing uncomfortable truths about our justice systems and proposing new ways to implement justice. A follow-up to the bestselling Trauma and Recovery the audiobook is divided into three parts, Part One: Power, examines the structure and nature of tyranny, patriarchy and white supremacy; Part Two: Visions of Justice, reveals how our current system is woefully ill-equipped for victims and corrects our misguided assumptions about what survivors need in the aftermath of violence, and finally in Part Three: Centring Survivor Justice, Herman proposes alternative methods of justice, offering hopeful new ways to think about its meanings and possibilities.

Truth and Repair is a profound and timely commentary that lies at the intersection of several cultural moments including the #MeToo movement, a resurgent interest in trauma, and the global movements focusing on racial injustices and abuses of power towards people of colour. Thoughtful, visceral and moving, Truth and Repair is a necessary call to action that invites us to envision a new approach to justice—one that centres on healing and solidarity to stand with survivors everywhere.

TRUTH AND REPAIR by Judith Herman, read by Stacey Glemboski - audiobook extract

The past, present and future of the sexism inherent in medicine and medical research—and how to change it.

The idea that medicine is gender-neutral is a myth. This isn't inflammatory rhetoric; it's simply true. From the way pain is felt, to how heart attacks are diagnosed, to the very role society plays in the health of the body, the medical landscape in place today is one that was designed for, and by, men.

This audiobook is about all the ways medicine is not gender-neutral, from research to treatment to diagnosis. Throughout history, flawed mindsets have paved the way for sub-par treatment, and the prevailing attitudes that still exist today have had terrible repercussions for women and their bodies.

Blending fascinating examples with historical and cultural context, and reflecting on her own personal experience with healthcare, Dr Marieke Bigg explores how women's bodies have been ignored, misunderstood and misdiagnosed, whilst keeping an eye to a better future. This is a sharp and honest must-listen, and an empowering tool for anyone committed to making this world safer to navigate for all.

THIS WON'T HURT by Marieke Bigg, read by Daphne Kouma - audiobook extract

The first book in an epic fantasy series for fans of Sabaa Tahir, Hafsah Faizal and Elizabeth Lim, set in an Arabian-inspired land. Raised to protect her nation from the monsters lurking in the sands, 17-year-old Imani must fight to find her brother whose betrayal is now their greatest threat.

In the hidden desert city of Qalia, secret spice magic awakens affinities in those who drink the misra tea. With an affinity for iron, 17-year-old Imani wields a dagger like no other warrior, garnering her the reputation as the next greatest Shield for battling the dangerous djinn, ghouls and other monsters that lurk in the sands beyond city limits.

Her reputation has been overshadowed, however, by her brother who tarnished the family name after he was discovered stealing their nation's coveted spice—a tell-tale sign of magical obsession. He disappeared soon after, believed to have died beyond the Forbidden Wastes, and leaving Imani reeling with both betrayal and grief.

But when Imani uncovers evidence her brother may be alive and spreading their nation's magic beyond the desert, she strikes a deal with the Council to find him and bring him back to Qalia before he can reveal the city's location. Accompanied by Qayn, a roguish but handsome djinni, and Taha, a powerful beastseer whose magical talents are matched only by his arrogance, they set out on their mission.

Imani will soon discover there are many secrets that lie beyond the Forbidden Wastes—and in her own heart—but will she find her brother before his betrayals endanger the fate of all of Qalia?

In this epic and action-packed fantasy, one young heroine navigates the treacherous road between protecting the ones you love and staying loyal to the place you call home.

SPICE ROAD by Maya Ibrahim, read by Krupa Pattani - audiobook extract

Freedom, you can't get and bury, and keep it and keep it so it won't ever go away.

No, child.

You got to swing your freedom like a club.

In 1859, in a small town jail, deep in the forests of Canada, an elderly woman sits behind bars. She came to Dunmore via the Underground Railroad to escape enslavement, but an American bounty hunter tracked her down. Now she's in jail for killing him.

Lensinda Martin, a smart young reporter, wants to tell the woman's version of events, hoping that it will lead to her acquittal, but the woman will only tell her story on one condition: she gets one from Lensinda in return.

As the women swap stories—of family and first loves, of survival and freedom against all odds, it becomes apparent that their histories are interconnected, and a hidden bond between the two women is revealed which will change Lensinda's life forever.

Travelling along the path of the Underground Railroad from Virginia to Michigan, from the Indigenous nations around the Great Lakes, to the Black refugee communities of Canada, In the Upper Country is an unforgettable debut about the interwoven history of peoples in North America, slavery and resistance, and two women reckoning with the stories they've been given, and the ones they want to tell.

IN THE UPPER COUNTRY by Kai Thomas, read by Milton Barnes, Tymika Tafari & Wesley French

For fans of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's, this a witty, elegant fairytale of New York, set in 1938.

In a New York City jazz bar on the last night of 1937, watching a quartet because she couldn't afford to see the whole ensemble, there were certain things Katey Kontent knew:

- how to sneak into the cinema, and steal silk stockings from Bendel's
- how to type eighty words a minute, five thousand an hour, and nine million a year
- that if you can still lose yourself in a Dickens novel then everything is going to be fine

By the end of the year she'll have learned:

- how to live like a redhead and insist upon the very best
- that chance encounters can be fated, and the word 'yes' can be a poison
- that riches can turn to rags in the trip of a heartbeat...

RULES OF CIVILITY by Amor Towles, read by Graeme Malcolm and Rebecca Lowman - audiobook extract

The myth of Perseus, told through the story of the three women who knew him best - his mother Danae, his wife Andromeda, and his victim, Medusa.

History remembers him as a hero. But the women who knew him best remember a different man...

Perseus grows up wanting to be a hero, but he cannot become one if his mother Danae still sees him as a boy. When his stepfather Polydektes casts him away on a voyage across the sea, Perseus is determined to fulfil the great destiny of the son of a god and the grandson of a king. But the line between heroism and monstrosity is thin, and when Perseus attempts to seduce first gentle Medusa and then beautiful Andromeda, before finally reuniting with Danae, they each learn of the dangers of resisting a boy prepared to risk it all for greatness...

THE SHADOW OF PERSEUS by Claire Heywood, read by Olivia Darnley - audiobook extract

The Parenting Map is a practical fail-safe, whole-family programme designed to help both adults and children heal and thrive.

We parents are plagued with doubt. In an ever-changing world our children must adapt constantly to the demands of the modern world - and we as parents do too. From social media pressures, generational expectations, and with a mental health crisis sweeping the younger generation, parenting can be a challenging and uncertain journey through uncharted territory.

Dr Shefali, a therapist who has worked with thousands of parents - and is a parent herself - is here to provide a helping hand. Empowering parents with her revolutionary conscious parenting method, The Parenting Map will lead you on an exciting path of growth, helping you to disrupt unhealthy belief patterns and overcome deeply ingrained fears so you can find an authentic connection between yourself and your children.

Following a step-by-step plan to navigate everyday challenges, Dr Shefali will teach you how to shift your focus to a new consciousness, transform your mindset, and improve your communication within the parenting dynamic. Your entire relationship with your children - and with yourself - will change, resulting in deeper bonds and healthy, thriving, well-adjusted children.

Featuring hands-on practical advice which question and empower you, as well as case studies to help you day to day, The Parenting Map is the ultimate manual for the modern-day parent.

The Parenting Map

THE PARENTING MAP written and read by Dr Shefali Tsabary - audiobook extract

A brilliant novel from award-winning writer and rising star Claire Askew.

DI Helen Birch is recovering from major surgery, housebound and exceptionally bored. Her boss, DCI McLeod, has made it crystal clear: she is not to take on any work until her recuperation is over.

In her absence, Amy Kato is promoted to sergeant and is given a maddening case to work on: Edinburgh is being plagued by an anonymous vigilante. He started small, meting out punishment to obnoxious boy racers and other antisocial folk, but his behaviour is escalating. Amy can tell from the anonymous online paper trail he leaves. His writings are increasingly confident, and increasingly threatening. And yet he also seems to be invisible: her team can find no clue as to his identity, and no trace of his whereabouts.

At first, McLeod doesn't see the case as a huge deal. Concerned, Amy comes to Birch in secret to ask for help, and Birch finds it impossible to resist taking action: placing her directly in the path of immense danger ...

A gripping crime thriller for fans of Susie Steiner, Elly Griffiths and Val McDermid - guaranteed to keep you up all night...

THE DEAD DON'T SPEAK by Claire Askew, read by Sarah Barron & Norman Bowman - audiobook extract

London, 1870.

Lucy Braithwhite lives a privileged existence as heir to the fortune of Braithwhite & Company - the most successful purveyor of English luxury wallpapers the world over. The company's formulas have been respected for nearly a century, but have always remained cloaked in mystery. No one has been able to explain the originality of design, or the brilliance of their colours, leaving many to wonder if the mysterious spell-like effect of their wallpapers is due simply to artistry, or something more sinister.

When Mr Luckhurst, the company's manager, and the man who has acted as surrogate father to Lucy and her invalid brother John since they were children, suddenly dies, Lucy is shocked to discover that there is no succession plan in place. Who will ensure that the company and her family continue to thrive?

The answer soon arrives in the form of the young and alluring Julian Rivers, who, unbeknownst to Lucy and John, has been essential to the company's operations for some time. At first, he seems like the answer to their prayers, but as Lucy begins piecing together Julian's true intentions, and John begins seeing spectral visions in the house's wallpaper, it becomes clear to Lucy that she must do everything within her power to oppose the diabolic forces that have risen up to destroy her family.

Set against the backdrop of the real-life arsenic wallpaper controversy of the late 19th century, The Company is a dark and haunting slice of gothic Victoriana, following one woman's fight to preserve all that she holds dear.

THE COMPANY by J.M. Varese, read by Beth Eyre - audiobook extract

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Chloe Gong comes two captivating new novellas surrounding the events of Foul Lady Fortune and following a familiar cast of characters from the These Violent Delights Duet!

In A Foul Thing, Roma and Juliette have established themselves as the heads of an underground weapons ring in Zhouzhuang, making a living the way they do best while remaining anonymous in their peaceful, quiet life. But when they hear about several Russian girls showing up dead in nearby towns, they decide to investigate-and ultimately discover that this mystery is much closer to home than they ever imagined.

In This Foul Murder, Benedikt and Marshall have been summoned by Roma to find the elusive scientist, Lourens, and bring him to Zhouzhuang. Time is of the essence aboard the week-long Trans-Siberian Express, but when someone is murdered on board, Benedikt and Marshall convince the officer in charge not to stop the train so that they aren't thrown off-schedule. Instead, they pretend that they are investigators and promise they can solve the murder, but as they dig deeper, they realize that the murder might having surprising ties to their own mission...

LAST VIOLENT CALL by Chloe Gong, read by Emily Woo Zeller - audiobook extract

Two friends in a Parisian perfume shop make a discovery that will transform our understanding of the world and the origins of life on Earth forever.

Set amidst the unforgettable sights and smells of 18th and 19th Century Paris, Elixir tells the story of Edouard Laugier and Auguste Laurent, the son of a perfumer and a fellow aspiring chemist, who met on the Left Bank while pursuing their passion for science.

Spurned by the scientific establishment, the pair ended up working out of Edouard's family perfume shop, Laugier père et fils. By day they prepared the revitalizing elixirs and rejuvenating eaux it was famous for, but by night using the ingredients of the perfumery and the principles of alchemy, they pursued the secret of life itself.

Elixir reads like a novel, brimming with eccentric characters, experimental daring, and the romance of the Bohemian salon. It is the story of a long-standing scientific puzzle and the struggle to gain acceptance for a new way of thinking about the building blocks of living matter long after those who discovered it were both dead. Yet this is also a story of hope and determination. For while the scientific establishment ridiculed their work at the time, teenage lab assistant Louis Pasteur took it seriously and over the course of an exceptional career, was able to show that their work pointed to a deep, inexplicable asymmetry in the molecular arrangement of living things - an unexplained asymmetry which remains one of science's great mysteries.

ELIXIR by Theresa Levitt, read by Esther Wane - audiobook extract

An original, revelatory, enthralling narrative history of how Queen Boudica led the greatest rebellion Britain has ever seen.

Almost 2000 years ago, Boudica led the greatest rebellion Britain has ever seen. Within the space of a single blood-soaked year, she united the tribes to deliver blow after devastating blow to the Roman regime, culminating in a brutal, decisive battle.

Archaeologist Duncan Mackay has spent a lifetime on the trail of Boudica. Beginning near his home in Norfolk, in the heart of Boudica's tribal territory, he embarks on a journey in the footsteps of Romans and Britons, exploring their villages, towns, forts and roads. The passage of two millennia has buried the world that Boudica knew, but Duncan finds that its echoes and physical traces still surround us - as long as you know where to look. The armies marched along the roads we still use, and died in their thousands in towns, cities and countryside where we still live today. The site of Boudica's last battle was long believed be lost to time, but the threads of the story all pull towards one remarkable, forgotten little corner of the English landscape.

From the Breckland of Norfolk to the back streets of Colchester, from the remotest corner of Anglesey to the depths of the London Underground, Duncan takes us back two thousand years to retell the story of Britain's bloodiest year. Fusing ancient history, modern excavation, landscape exploration, and vivid reconstruction, Echolands weaves the long-lost tapestry of Boudica's war.

ECHOLANDS written and read by Duncan Mackay - audiobook extract

A sneak peek behind the professional veneer of vets, sprinkled with wacky moments, wicked humour, and a cornucopia of beloved animals.

Trimming a parrot's beak, emptying a dog's anal glands and neutering a cat - then lunch - followed by some tricky horse dentistry, amputating a lamb's leg and calming a distressed client....

It's all in a day's work if you're a vet: a delicate balance of managing animal welfare and ethics, educating people in pet ownership and aligning their expectations with real-life outcomes. As a job, it spans everything from managing the heartbreak of euthanasia, to informing owners that under no circumstances should they take their dog's worming pills, even if they're sure they have worms.

During his twenty-five-year career, Welsh vet Siôn Rowlands has experienced almost every animal medical issue imaginable, from rescuing an injured horse from the edge of a cliff to moisturizing a baby elephant. He's also witnessed ridiculous moments, surreal situations and the real toll it can take on a person.

Frank, funny and moving in equal measure, Letting the Cat Out of the Bag is a rare glimpse behind the scenes of the uniquely pressurised world of being a vet.

LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG by Siôn Rowlands, read by Dyfrig Morris - audiobook extract

The old world is broken. Be part of a better future.

America, 2049: Summer temperatures are intolerably high, the fossil fuel industry has shut down, and humans are implanted with a 'Flick' at birth, which allows them to remain perpetually online. The wealthy live in the newly created Floating City off the coast, while people on the mainland struggle to get by. For Rose, a job as a hostess in the city's elite club, feels like her best hope for a better future.

At a Cold War-era research station, a group of highly-trained women with the code-name White Alice are engaged in climate surveillance. But the terms of their employment become increasingly uncertain.

And in a former oil town in northern Canada called Dominion Lake, a camp is being built-Camp Zero. A rare source of fresh, clean air and cooler temperatures, it will be the beginning of a new community and a new way of life. Grant believes it will be the perfect place to atone for his family's dark legacy.

Everyone has an agenda. So who can you trust? Could falling in love be most the radical act of all?

Thrilling, immersive and disturbingly prescient Camp Zero is about the world we've built and where we go from here.

CAMP ZERO by Michelle Min Sterling, read by Emily Tremaine, Graham Halstead, Greta Jung

An audacious novel set in near-future America, from the critically-acclaimed author of Spaceman of Bohemia.

When Adela discovers she has a terminal illness, her thoughts turn to Tereza, the American-raised daughter she gave up at birth. Leaving behind her moody, grown son, Roman in their native Czech village, she flies to the United States to find the long-lost daughter who never knew her.

In New York City, Tereza is working as the star researcher for two suspicious biotech moguls hellbent on developing a 'god pill' to extend human life indefinitely. But before Tereza can find a cure for Adela, her mother dies mysteriously.

Narrated from the beyond by Adela, A Brief History of Living Forever is a high-wire act of storytelling. By turns insightful, moving and funny, the novel blends an immigrant mother's heartbreaking journey through the American dream with her children's quest to reclaim her from a country that would erase any record of her existence.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF LIVING FOREVER by Jaroslav Kalfar, read by Juanita McMahon - audiobook extract

THE SENSATIONAL NEW THRILLER FROM SARAH BONNER—REVENGE IS BEST SERVED SWEET.

Secrets and lies ruin lives

Two women receive the same anonymous note.
For one it's a threat.
For the other it's an invitation for revenge.

Helena is beautiful, successful and living in married bliss in Exeter. But she's hiding a secret that could tear her perfect life apart. When the notes begin to arrive, she realises someone else must know. But what might her husband and his overbearing family do if they find out the truth?

Thea is reeling from her best friend Helena's death. But when she starts digging into the circumstances, she receives a threatening note warning her to stop. She knows her friend's death wasn't an accident. This was murder. And she is determined to get revenge. And everyone knows, it's almost always the husband . . .

HER SWEET REVENGE by Sarah Bonner, read by G Weightman, J Blackborow, S Zervudachi, S Siadatan

Do two trees ever appear identical? No, but why? Every small difference is a clue.

Each tree we meet is filled with signs that reveal secrets about the life of that tree and the landscape we stand in. The clues are easy to spot when you know what to look for, but remain invisible to most people.

In How to Read a Tree, you'll discover the simple principles that explain the shapes and patterns you can see in trees and what they mean. And you'll learn rare skills that can be applied every time you pass a tree, whether you are in a town or a wilder spot.

As the author of the international bestsellers The Walker's Guide and How to Read Water, Tristan Gooley knows how to uncover the phenomena worth looking for. He has been instructing people in the art of reading trees for two decades and this book includes signs that will not be found in any other book in the world.

Once you have learned to see these things it is impossible to unsee them. We will never look at a tree the same way again.

HOW TO READ A TREE written and read by Tristan Gooley - audiobook extract

From Jeremy Dyson & Andy Nyman, creators of the international smash-hit play and film Ghost Stories, comes a new novel: The Warlock Effect.

Meet Louis Warlock.

Man about town, denizen of Soho's nightclubs and cabaret bars - and the most skilled magician of his time...

As a boy, Ludvik Weinschenk fled Nazi Germany to England with a pack of playing cards and three tricks to his name. Twelve years later, in 1950s London, having risen through the ranks of concert parties, night clubs and variety theatres, Ludvik - or Louis Warlock as he is now known - is the most famous magician in Britain.

But after his talent for deception attracts the attention of the British secret service, Louis is thrown into the perilous world of espionage and finds himself sent across Europe with a dangerous mission to fulfil. When he comes face to face with a nemesis whose cunning rivals his own, Louis will need to use every trick in the book - or risk the most terrible consequences, both for the country and for himself.

A highly entertaining, fiendishly clever thriller, The Warlock Effect offers a twist-filled, rollicking adventure - and a glimpse into the phenomenal mind of an extraordinary magician.

THE WARLOCK EFFECT written by Jeremy Dyson & Andy Nyman, narrated by Andy Nyman - audiobook extract

'A thirteen-year-old girl is at a party. A boy, slightly older, sees her. Juliet. This book is about that girl.'

A cultural, historical and literary exploration of the birth, death and legacy of the ultimate romantic heroine—Shakespeare's Juliet Capulet.

Juliet Capulet is the heartbeat of the world's most famous love story. She is an enduring romantic icon. And she is a captivating, brilliant, passionate teenage girl who is read and interpreted afresh by each new generation.

Searching for Juliet takes us from the Renaissance origin stories behind William Shakespeare's child bride to the boy actor who inspired her creation onstage. From enslaved people in the Caribbean to Italian fascists in Verona, and real-life lovers in Afghanistan. From the Victorian stage to 1960s cinema, Baz Luhrmann and beyond.

Sophie Duncan draws on rich cultural and historical sources and new research to explore the legacy and reach of Romeo and Juliet far beyond the literary sphere. With warmth, wit and insight, she shows us why Juliet is for now, for ever, for everyone.

SEARCHING FOR JULIET - written by Sophie Duncan, read by Nicky Diss - audiobook extract

A gothic literary mystery set in 1920s Edinburgh, Hazardous Spirits whisks the listener away to a world of seances and spiritualism.

Edinburgh, 1923.

Evelyn Hazard is a young woman living a comfortable and unremarkable middle-class life. One day, her quiet existence is shattered when her steady, reliable husband Robert makes a startling announcement: he can communicate with the dead.

As the couple are pulled into the spiritualist movement that emerged following the mass deaths caused by the First World War and the Spanish Flu, Evelyn's life becomes increasingly unsettled as dark secrets from her past threaten to surface.

Faced with the prospect of losing all that is dear to her, Evelyn finds herself asking: is the man she loves a fraud, a madman or - most frighteningly - is he telling the truth?

A gothic literary mystery, written in sparkling prose, Hazardous Spirits evokes the spirit of 1920s Edinburgh, in all its bohemian vibrancy.

HAZARDOUS SPIRITS by Anbara Salam, read by Samara MacLaren - audiobook extract

Three clips from the first chapter of The Stranger's Companion, published by John Murray Press. 

(c) 2024 Mary Horlock (P)2024 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Chapter 1, p.7

Chapter 1, p.6

Chapter 1, p.5

Loving Kane nearly destroyed Briar once . . . now that he's Alpha, he could be the end of her.

­Briar's life collapsed the day Kane abandoned her ­four years ago, leaving a trail of destruction in­ his wake. Now, she needs his help.

Briar has one shot to save her V-addicted brother, if she can solve a series of murders plaguing the city. It'll mean diving headfirst into the political minefield of the supernatural elite and going head-to-head with the new alpha. He's ­dangerous, he's devastating, and he just so happens to be the man who obliterated her ­world.

The deal: fake being his mate to solve the case. The cost: everything.

As catastrophe looms and old passions ignite, Briar ­is faced with the impossible choice between loyalty and love. While the killer is watching and­ waiting to strike . . .

Shadowed Moonlight by K.C. Harper, read by Stephanie Cannon

In his first memoir, beloved comedian and national treasure Bill Bailey shares stories of his life - and the animals he's met along the way.

Bill Bailey has always had dogs, including a Patterdale terrier called Rocky who would travel with him in the van to his first shows and occasionally join him on stage. Fast forward a few decades and Bill has shared his home with a variety of birds, dogs, frogs, chameleons and an armadillo called Tommy. 'We even had a giant chicken, a huge Malay cockerel called Kid Creole. After a few stand-offs he took against me. He had to go in the end, I was being stalked in my own back garden.'

That chicken apart, animals have always been at the heart of an extraordinary life as one of the nation's favourite comedians, actors, musicians and (thanks to Strictly) dancers: from terriers to the orangutans of Sumatra and the parrots that share his breakfast every morning in west London.
 
Full of the leftfield humour, wit and wisdom that has made Bill Bailey such a beloved performer around the world, My Animals and Other Animals is the story of Bill's life; but more than that, it's the story of how all of our lives are enriched by the animals who accompany us on that journey.

My Animals and Other Animals, written and read by Bill Bailey - Bill writes a tongue twister

My Animals and Other Animals, written and read by Bill Bailey - Bill struggles with Brazil

My Animals and Other Animals, written and read by Bill Bailey - Benedict Cumberbatch eats meal worms

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