In August 2020, Lebanon was in the midst of the global pandemic and a devastating economic crisis. People protested in the streets, calling for the removal of a political elite accused of greed, negligence and incompetence. The Lebanese people felt as though their country was staring into the abyss. But the worst was yet to come.  On the evening of August 4, 2020, Hangar 12 of the Port of Beirut exploded, and then exploded again. A shockwave moving faster than the speed of sound tore through Beirut, leaving nearly 200 people dead, 6,000 injured and 300,000 homeless. The blast had been caused by the storing of thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate alongside a stash of fireworks - a deadly arrangement about which the government had known, but done nothing. For six months straight, French-Lebanese author and artist Lamia Ziadé wrote, illustrated and recorded every new piece of information, every photograph of the wreckage or the wounded that made its way around WhatsApp groups, Instagram and Twitter. In My Port of Beirut, Ziadé weaves together the play-by-play of the tragedy with her own personal stories, as well as the historical and political background that made such a catastrophe possible and, perhaps, inevitable.

An unwelcome blast from the past puts Patrick and Ingrid back in harm's way . . . Nicholas Haldane was dead, but he wouldn't lie down. And now Julian Hardy, the man who hired him in a bid to destroy Richard Daws, a top official in the National Crime Agency, is out of prison and has changed his surname to Mannering. Patrick Gillard, working for the agency but within the Avon and Somerset force with his wife Ingrid Langley, receives a request from MI5, for whom he used to work, to investigate Mannering. They are then called in when his cleaner makes a shocking discovery. Meanwhile, an enigmatic couple calling themselves Simon and Natasha Graves turn up in the village, intent on pestering Patrick's recently widowed mother. Could there be a connection to Mannering? Patrick and Ingrid are soon embroiled in a deeply personal and disturbing case.

When art historian Nora Barnes returns to France for a Van Gogh conference in the charming medieval village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, she's expecting a vigorous debate about whether the famed artist's suicide was actually a homicide. But on the night before the conference, an elderly French woman who'd promised to reveal important evidence is found head down in the village fountain, and her Chanel briefcase is nowhere to be seen. During a week of academic squabbling, dining, romance, and suspense, the quirky conference members, one by one, fall under police suspicion and the amused gaze of Nora's husband, Toby. But someone wants to halt Nora and Toby's amateur sleuthing, and what happens next is no joke.

*The breathtaking new novel from the bestselling author of Girl A* ‘Sensational’ RICHARD OSMAN ‘Pitch-perfect’ THE NEW YORK TIMES ‘A masterpiece’ LOUISE O’NEILL ‘Fantastic’ PAULA HAWKINS Stonesmere will never be the same again… A village hall, a primary school play, a beautiful Lake District town. Into this idyllic scene steps a lone gunman whose actions set off a train of events that will have devastating consequences for the close-knit community of Stonesmere. At the epicentre of the tragedy is Marty, daughter of the teacher who dies trying to protect her pupils. What did she see? How is she involved? In the weeks and months following the killings, conspiracy theorists start questioning what happened. For outsider Trent Casey, the truther movement offers him a chance to step into the spotlight to expose the ‘sham’ of the killings. Marty’s and Trent’s lives will become entwined as events spiral out of control. The true story is gradually revealed, but at what cost to those caught up in the maelstrom… Day One is a tender, heartbreaking novel about community, tragedy, and the lasting power of love from the bestselling author of Girl A.

Translated by Constance Garnett with an introduction by Anthony Briggs. Dostoevsky's fascination for mental breakdown and violence (20 murders in his four main novels) was based on his own life, and these two unmistakably autobiographical works bear this out. The House of the Dead is fiction, but based on his four years in a Siberian prison. An educated upper-class man is condemned to live among criminals and brutal guards, with arbitrary punishments, lousy food, disgusting living conditions, hard toil and many floggings. Somehow he avoids bitterness and recrimination; faith in humanity survives. With its breadth of characterisation, acute sense of detail and strong narrative interest, this work can still shock, entertain and inspire. In The Gambler we see the Russian community in a German spa town. Drawn to the casino, Alexey becomes obsessed with roulette. In a gripping story, full of psychological interest, his growing mania eclipses even his interest in Polina, a heroine of demonic and vibrant sexuality. Dostoevsky himself was rescued from a similar gambling obsession by the young stenographer who took down this work at his dictation and married him soon afterwards.

On a street in Dorchester, England, there is a gateway between real and imagined lives. A plaque on a Barclays Bank identifies the building as "lived in by the Mayor of Casterbridge in Thomas Hardy's story of that name written in 1885." Floyd, an American writer, and his wife, Beverly, are pondering the enigma of a fictional character living in a factual building when Floyd is approached by Hardy himself-despite his death in 1928. This phantom-or is he just a figment of Floyd's oddly damaged brain?-tasks Floyd with finding out what Hardy missed in love. Floyd and Beverly set out to discover what they can, visiting Hardy's birthplace, home, and grave, exploring the Dorset landscape and the famous novels with their themes of tormented love, and meeting characters deeply invested in Hardy's life and reputation. Peering into the Victorian past, they slowly fold back the clutter of screens that Hardy placed around his private life to uncover long-hidden truths about his romantic attachments and creative work. At the same time, Floyd and Beverly's own love story unfolds, filled with healing and hope.

The Hobbit is the unforgettable story of Bilbo, a peace-loving hobbit, who embarks on a strange and magical adventure.

A timeless classic.

Bilbo Baggins enjoys a quiet and contented life, with no desire to travel far from the comforts of home; then one day the wizard Gandalf and a band of dwarves arrive unexpectedly and enlist his services – as a burglar – on a dangerous expedition to raid the treasure-hoard of Smaug the dragon. Bilbo’s life is never to be the same again.

Seldom has any book been so widely read and loved as J. R.R. Tolkien’s classic tale, ‘The Hobbit’. Since its first publication in 1937 it has remained in print to delight each new generation of readers all over the world, and its hero, Bilbo Baggins, has taken his place among the ranks of the immortals of fiction.

An action-packed comedy about a fake family that includes a spy, an assassin and a telepath! Master spy Twilight is unparalleled when it comes to going undercover on dangerous missions for the betterment of the world. But when he receives the ultimate assignment-to get married and have a kid-he may finally be in over his head! Not one to depend on others, Twilight has his work cut out for him procuring both a wife and a child for his mission to infiltrate an elite private school. What he doesn't know is that the wife he's chosen is an assassin and the child he's adopted is a telepath!

Now an Apple TV series starring Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER Overall Book of the Year and Fiction Book of the Year at the British Book Awards 2017 (Nibbies) Longlisted for the 2017 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction The Waterstones Book of the Year 2016 Shortlisted for the 2016 Costa Novel Award London, 1893. When Cora Seaborne's controlling husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness. Along with her son Francis - a curious, obsessive boy - she leaves town for Essex, in the hope that fresh air and open space will provide refuge. On arrival, rumours reach them that the mythical Essex Serpent, once said to roam the marshes claiming lives, has returned to the coastal parish of Aldwinter. Cora, a keen amateur naturalist with no patience for superstition, is enthralled, convinced that what the local people think is a magical beast may be a yet-undiscovered species. As she sets out on its trail, she is introduced to William Ransome, Aldwinter's vicar, who is also deeply suspicious of the rumours, but thinks they are a distraction from true faith. As he tries to calm his parishioners, Will and Cora strike up an intense relationship, and although they agree on absolutely nothing, they find themselves at once drawn together and torn apart, affecting each other in ways that surprise them both. The Essex Serpent is a celebration of love, and the many different shapes it can take.

Prepare to set sail with this riveting romantasy—the first in a duology—that’s filled with complex characters, sizzling chemistry, and evocative action. A must-read for fans of Daughter of the Pirate King and Fable!

Ximena Reale has spent most of her life training at La Academia to join the Cazadores, seafaring hunters who track down pirates. But her future is uncertain, thanks to her parents’ questionable reputation. They were traitorous pirates, and though they were executed when Ximena and her sister were young, they permanently damaged the Reale name in the eyes of the Luzan Empire.

Ability alone won’t make Ximena a Cazadoro—or earn her the coveted Cazadoro cloak. So, when the legendary pirate Gasparilla returns and captures the Empire’s queen, Ximena offers to bring back the queen and the notorious pirate in exchange for a cloak. But there’s a catch: Only one cloak is available, and Ximena’s competition is Dante, an infuriating yet handsome classmate with mysterious motives.

With their futures on the line, Ximena and Dante set out on a dangerous quest across the high seas. But no matter how far Ximena sails, her family’s legacy haunts her, and her exposure to a world outside of la academia leads her to question the very laws she’s always fought to uphold. Is it possible she’s been on the wrong side all along?

Disaster is only a handful of words away. And they are already being spoken... An abused young boy craves the affection of his crusading mother, who brutally rejects him in favour of cultivating the dependence of lonely and desperate strangers. Acolytes who will, when promised emancipation from their suffering, cater to her every bizarre and catastrophic whim without question. Poignant, harrowing and humorous, this poetic, bitter-sweet, dreamlike fable examines the corrosive pain of social isolation and emotional vulnerability, the devastating fragility of devotion and the power of love to transport us to perfect, imperfect and dangerously unpredictable places.

In the depths of space, a group of students is pitted against each other in a brutal battle for survival―a gripping sci-fi survival horror from rising star manga artist Shiro Kuroi perfect for fans of Battle Royale and Attack on Titan

Monster or human . . . What sleeps deep in the darkness?

The Leviathan, an enormous spaceship, drifts in spaces, abandoned in a galaxy far, far away. When looters break into the abandoned ship, they discover the diary of a middle-schooler, Kazuma, who documented the horrific fate of its passengers. Shocked, the looters read on, but as they do, they reach a chilling realization―there is still one survivor somewhere inside!

Along with the looters, the reader will piece together the decades-old tale of an innocent school trip to Earth with a tragic and brutal ending, as sudden explosions destroy the hull of the Leviathan. Trapped in space without enough oxygen left to wait for rescue, Kazuma documents the mental collapse and treachery of his teacher and classmates as they realize that the only hope for survival is the cryopreservation unit at the heart of the ship . . . which can only fit one person. A bloody battle for survival ensues as friend turns against friend, teacher against student, and each survivor is forced to confront the value of their own life.

Is it possible to keep one’s humanity when lost in the darkness of space? And moreover, what kind of survivor of that vicious struggle do looters find themselves alone with, decades after the dust has settled?

One of the top bestselling new manga titles in Japan, Leviathan’s incredible, brutal illustrations and tightly paced plot will leave readers at the edge of their seats, and linger in their minds long after the last page of each volume. Perfect for fans of Moebius, Star Wars, and Katsuhiro Otomo, Leviathan is sure to be an instant hit.

In Taisho-era Japan, Tanjiro Kamado is a kindhearted boy who makes a living selling charcoal. But his peaceful life is shattered when a demon slaughters his entire family. His little sister Nezuko is the only survivor, but she has been transformed into a demon herself! Tanjiro sets out on a dangerous journey to find a way to return his sister to normal and destroy the demon who ruined his life. Shinobu, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke and Nezuko have recovered while under the care of the Demon Slayer Corps. They have even learned a new and powerful technique-Total Concentration! They'll need this new power and all their skill on their next demon-hunting mission aboard the mysterious Infinity Train as it takes them into the dreams of demons!

For the right price, these professional troubleshooters can solve any problem, whether they’re taking out the scum of the earth or destroying human-eating monsters!

The troubleshooters of Gokurakugai are open for business! In a run-down town without law and order, Alma and Tao accept work from clientele of all creeds and cultures, and they’re always ready to dole out justice against human-devouring monsters that lurk in the shadows. They’ll take on any case—as long as the price is right!

There’s never a shortage of crime around town, and a young boy searching for his beastman friend is just another entry on a long list of missing person reports. However, Alma and Tao realize that they’re the best chance at solving the case—and destroy the vicious monsters waiting around every street corner.

Prepare to be spooked by these chilling Japanese short stories! Strange Tales from Japan presents 99 spine-tingling tales of ghosts, yokai, demons, shapeshifters and trickster animals who inhabit remote reaches of the Japanese countryside. 33 color woodblock prints and over 55 b&w illustrations of these creatures, who have inhabited the Japanese imagination for centuries, bring the stories to life. The captivating tales in this volume include: The Vengeance of Oiwa--The terrifying spirit of a woman murdered by her husband who seeks retribution from beyond the grave The Curse of Okiku--A servant girl is murdered by her master and curses his family, with gruesome results The Snow Woman--A man is saved by a mysterious woman who swears him to secrecy Tales of the Kappa--Strange human-like sprites with green, scaly skin who live in water and are known to pull children and animals to their deaths And many, many more! In his introduction, renowned translator William Scott Wilson explains the role these stories play in local Japanese culture and folklore, and their importance to understanding the Japanese psyche. Readers will learn which particular region, city, mountain or temple the stories originate from--in case you're brave enough to visit these haunts yourself!

As emperors, generals, and kings vie for dominance, martial sects mount bloody clashes to determine who will influence the nations’ leaders. Fallen and humbled, former sect leader Shen Qiao searches for direction in a tumultuous world. He finds an unlikely companion in the nefarious Yan Wushi.

The roguish and powerful demonic practitioner has helped Shen Qiao begin to rebuild his lost martial abilities. As the two travel and work together, the gentle Daoist master dares to imagine that the famed Demon Lord is warming to him. But all is not as it seems, and old treacheries draw fresh blood. As Shen Qiao confronts dangerous new enemies, the struggle for control of the Central Plains ignites!

A major new line of DC collected editions begins with the most iconic stories starring Green Arrow!

Welcome to DC Finest, a major new publishing initiative presenting comprehensive collections of the most in-demand and celebrated periods in DC Comics history, spanning genres, characters, and eras!

Collecting the can't-miss stories about the modern-day Robin Hood, DC Finest: Green Arrow is a must have for any fan!

Collects Detective Comics Annual #1, Green Arrow #1-8, Green Arrow Annual #1, The Question #17-18, The Question Annual #1, Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters #1-3