WINNER OF THE THE PULITZER PRIZE IN FICTION and SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE, a wondrous, exhilarating novel about nine strangers brought together by an unfolding natural catastrophe.

An artist inherits a hundred years of photographic portraits, all of the same doomed American chestnut. A hard-partying undergraduate in the late 1980s electrocutes herself, dies, and is sent back into life by creatures of air and light. A hearing- and speech-impaired scientist discovers that trees are communicating with one another. An Air Force crewmember in the Vietnam War is shot out of the sky, then saved by falling into a banyan.

This is the story of these and five other strangers, each summoned in different ways by the natural world, who are brought together in a last stand to save it from catastrophe.

Improving the quality of your writing starts with rethinking your assumptions and developing healthier writing habits. This book will help you do both.

Become a Better Writer: How to Write with Clarity and Simplicity is a practical guide for those who wish to write more clearly and concisely. Drawing on their extensive experience as writers and editors, the authors discuss tools and tips for making your writing accessible and meaningful to your target audience.

The book is readable and engaging, covering different kinds of writing (including reports, essays, emails, novels and speeches) across a wide range of subjects. The examples discussed are derived from real-world material and are particularly relevant to the African context. The book will be especially useful to writers of non-fiction.

After an exceptionally wild Mother’s Day where she danced like there was no tomorrow, picked a fight with a stranger and collided with the floor, Johannesburg scriptwriter and author Pamela Power is forced to take a hard look at her drinking habits. She realises that although she does not need to find an AA group immediately, she might be a serial binge drinker and needs to take back control.

In this honest yet humorous account of her year of not getting sh*tfaced, Pamela examines her long, complicated relationship with alcohol. She is shocked to realise just how much of a crutch alcohol has been for her. There is always a bottle of wine or Prosecco around to her to help her manage the many demands of life as a freelancer and as a parent.

Pamela starts her journey to sobriety at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic as her family faces financial troubles, and life in the suburban Parks of Johannesburg isn’t so blissful anymore. Through her, we experience all the frustration, irritation and surprising benefits of going dry. In dealing with her dependence on alcohol, Pamela also confronts her troubled relationship with her parents.

While many other sober curious books portray sobriety as the only answer, Pamela has found a sweet spot between total sobriety and binge drinking: moderation.

Four strangers, two cities, one chance online meeting.

Jess is a yummy mummy of two whose life is slowly unravelling and who has recently separated from her husband. Ginger is a happily widowed granny with a salty tongue and a wicked sense of humour. The gorgeous and sensitive Matt is an almost-qualified psychologist, who still lives with his parents. And Queenie, a librarian from Cape Town, has an absent boyfriend and a secret writing habit.

What could these four strangers possibly have in common?

They are all die-hard Marian Keyes fans. And when they hear that Marian is due to visit South Africa to attend a literary festival, they are all desperate to meet her. Together they come up with a mad-cap plan.

Will they succeed – or will life intervene?

• Chunky lift the flap books, great for little hands.
• Wonderful vibrant illustrations with scenes to reveal.
• Ocean, Wild, Farm and Town in the series.
• Illustrated by Fiona Powers.

An early morning on a beach in Virginia. As he is taking his daily swim, Arman Bajalan - formerly an interpreter in Iraq - discovers a dead body. After surviving an assassination attempt that killed his wife and child, Arman has been given lonely sanctuary in the US. Now, sure that the murder is connected to his past, he knows he's still not safe.

Seasoned detective Catherine Wheel and her fresh-off-the-beat partner have little to go on beyond a bus ticket in the man's pocket. It leads them to Sally Ewell, a local journalist as grief-stricken as Arman by the Iraq war, who is investigating a nefarious corporation: one on the cusp of landing a multi-billion-dollar government defence contract.

As victims mount around Arman, taking the team down wrong turns and towards startling evidence, they find themselves in a race, committed to unravelling the truth and keeping Arman alive - even if it costs them everything.

A Line in the Sand is a sinuous, powerful and white-knuckle thriller, from the award-winning author of The Yellow Birds, shot through with treachery, trauma and the long tentacles of war.

She wants a future - is that too much? This Thing Called the Future, the multiple-award-winning young-adult novel from J.L. Powers, is finally coming to South Africa, its country of origin. The book is set in Imbali, the sprawling township outside Pietermaritzburg. Khosi is fourteen years old. She lives with her grandmother and her little sister, Zi. Both her parents tell her of the past, about a time when hundreds of Imbali residents were killed in political violence. Khosi wants a future; she wants to help make South Africa a better place. Is that too much in an environment where some men believe that raping virgins, like Khosi, will cure them of AIDS? Meanwhile, Khosi has fallen in love and really, really just wants to experience that warm, fuzzy feeling that happens when Little Man, the handsome boy in her class, touches her hand. In a world where HIV and AIDS are treatable for those with money and access to good state-sponsored care, Khosi has to negotiate hours in clinic lines, vengeful men, her mother's disdain for traditional healers, her grandmother's faith in their sangoma, and the terrible curse her next-door neighbour has cast on their household. This beautifully crafted young-adult novel never preaches and never falls into the trap of “warning” teenagers against anything. It simply deals with the realities of township life and the hardships a young virgin faces. This Thing Called the Future has won several prizes in the USA. LAPA and Catalyst Press are proud to bring it back to its country of origin.

Adaptation of the award-winning comic series created by Frank Miller. Interweaving multiple storylines from the series' history, the film paints a picture of the ultimate town through the eyes of its roughest characters. There's the street thug Marv (Mickey Rourke), whose desperate quest to find the killer of a prostitute named Goldie (Jaime King) will lead him to the foulest edges of town. Inhabiting many of those areas is Dwight (Clive Owen), a photographer in league with the sordid ladies of Sin City, headed by Gail (Rosario Dawson), who opens up a mess of trouble after tangling with a corrupt cop by the name of Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro). Finally, there's Hartigan (Bruce Willis), an ex-cop with a heart problem who's hell-bent on protecting a stripper named Nancy (Jessica Alba).

Can she raise a sibling and finish school? When her beloved grandmother dies, 17-year-old Khosi must learn to survive on her own. She has to take care of her little sister, Zi, while making a living as a traditional healer, and somehow try to finish school. When violence flares up again in Imbali, the township near Pietermaritzburg, Khosi finds herself at the centre of the storm. A taxi war threatens the safety of every person in Imbali, including Khosi's best friend and boyfriend, Little Man. The body of a murdered man is dumped on her doorstep. Accusations of witchcraft swirl around her, despite her every effort to keep her healing practice above board. When Little Man chooses the wrong path, Khosi builds a new romance, but her past might catch up with her. This is the sequel to Powers' award-winning novel This Thing Called the Future. In Under Water, we meet Khosi three years after the end of the first book. Can Khosi be a part of change in her community? And can she raise her sister while finishing school? There are few young-adult books that deal with raising a sibling. This one tackles that situation head on. Under Water is the sequel to This Thing Called the Future, a multiple-award-winning young-adult book that is being published in South Africa at the same time as Under Water. In the first book Khosi hears about, and experiences, feelings of being trapped under water while the ancestors try to speak to her. The sequel explains her journey into the future.

This book examines why political behaviour in developing countries so often deviates from outsiders' expectations--and not for the reasons you might think. Analysis of developing countries tends to be preoccupied with the seedier aspects of politics, finding explanations for lack of progress in vote-buying, clientelism and naked self-interest. But this ignores the question of why politicians, as people, do what they do. Drawing on the experiences of hundreds of MPs in some of the world's most complex environments, Greg Power explores their personal motivations and daily pressures in filling the gaps left by failing states. In countries as diverse as Iraq, Nepal, Ukraine and Tanzania, he shows how institutions work within highly informal political cultures, driven by public expectations, social norms, reciprocity and altruism. He reveals that development is determined as much by MPs' foibles and preferences as by the wider battle for power. Combining insights from political science, behavioural economics and business management, Power argues for a more human approach to political reform--one that starts with individuals, not institutions. His fascinating book shines new light on how politics works from the inside, and why the human element is central to making change happen where it really matters.

Hierdie kartonboek is die jongste toevoeging tot die Loer binne-reeks. Die tien lig-en-loerflappies is sterk genoeg vir die gryperigste klein handjies en sal keer op keer pret verskaf. Die lewendige illustrasies sal kinders se aandag behou en dit nog lekkerder maak om die wilde diere te ontdek. Kom kuier saam in die woestyn en in die woud!

Exercise Physiology: Theory and Application to Fitness and Performance is designed for students interested in exercise physiology, clinical exercise physiology, human performance, kinesiology/exercise science, physical therapy, and physical education. The text clearly presents the latest understanding of the physiology of exercise through a review of the research and the use of numerous clinical applications. This comprehensive text offers instructors the freedom to select the material that is most important for their courses. The twelfth edition has undergone major revisions with the addition of Dr. John Quindry to the author team, including adding three brand-new chapters focusing on "Exercise is Medicine."

You don't need pots of money to start your own gardening business. With this book and a willingness to learn, you could soon be enjoying a profitable and enormously satisfying career doing something you love. Whether your aspirations are simply to sell a selection of home grown plants from the boot of your car or to establish a succesful all-year-round gardening business, this book will show you how. It covers: - Preparing your business plan - Getting kitted out - How to find work - and keep it - What services to offer - Book-keeping for gardeners - Planning the gardening year - How to get commercial contracts - Providing estimates - The top ten most profitable gardening jobs Contents: Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. A Growing Opportunity; 2. Getting Started; 3. Getting Your First Customers; 4. Starting and Running a Gardening Round; 5. Starting and Running a General Gardening Business; 6. Adding Value Through Spin-Off Opportunities; 7. Launching Your Business and Creating the Right Image; 8. Bookkeeping and Administration Systems; 9. Managing the Gardening Year; 10. Resolving Problems and Building On Opportunities; 11. Growing Your Business; Help Directory; Index.

An international team of scholars address the theology and practice of peacebuilding.

"Peacebuilding" refers to a range of topics, ranging from conflict prevention to post-conflict reconciliation. In this volume a strong cast of Catholic theologians, ethicists, and scholar-practitioners join to examine the challenge of peacebuilding in theory and practice. While many of the essays deal with general themes of reconciliation, forgiveness, interreligious dialogue, and human rights, there are also case studies of peacebuilding in such diverse contexts as Colombia, the Philippines, the Great Lakes region of Africa, Indonesia, and South Africa. This volume will be of interest to all scholars engaged in developing a theology and ethic of just peace, as well as students seeking to understand the interaction between theology, ethics, and lived Christianity.

Contributors include: John Paul Lederach; Maryann Cusimano Love; Daniel Philpott; William Headley and Reina Neufeldt; Todd Whitmore; Peter-John Pearson; Thomas Michel; Kenneth Himes; Lisa Sowle Cahill; Peter Phan; and David O'Brien.

An intimate, coming-of-age memoir by legendary guitarist Kid Congo Powers, detailing his experiences as a young, queer Mexican-American in 1970s Los Angeles through his rise in the glam rock and punk rock scenes. Kid Congo Powers has been described as a "legendary guitarist and paragon of cool" with "the greatest resume ever of anyone in rock music." That unique imprint on rock history stems from being a member of not one but three beloved, groundbreaking, and influential groups--Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, the Cramps, and last but not least, The Gun Club, the wildly inventive punk-blues band he co-founded. Some New Kind of Kick begins as an intimate coming of age tale, of a young, queer, Chicano kid, growing up in a suburb east of East LA, in the mid-'70s, exploring his sexual identity through glam rock. When a devastating personal tragedy crushes his teenage dreams, he finds solace and community through fandom, as founder ('The Prez') of the Ramones West Coast fan club, and immerses himself in the delinquent chaos of the early LA punk scene. A chance encounter with another superfan, in the line outside the Whiskey-A-Go-Go to get into a Pere Ubu concert, changes the course of his life entirely. Jeffrey Lee Pierce, a misfit Chicano punk who runs the Blondie fan club, proposes they form a band. The Gun Club is born. So begins an unlikely transition from adoring fan to lauded performer. In Pierce, he finds brotherhood, a creative voice, and a common cause, but also a shared appetite for self-destruction that threatens to overwhelm them both. Quirky, droll, and heartfelt, with a pitch-perfect evocation of time and place, and a wealth of richly-drawn supporting characters, Some New Kind of Kick is a memoir of personal transformation, addiction and recovery, friendship and belonging, set against the relentless creativity and excess of the '70s and '80s underground music scenes.

**THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER** **SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2021** A father. A son. A bewildering world. Discover the breath-taking new novel from the million-copy bestselling author of The Overstory. 'The love between son and father has an emotional truth that wrings the heart' Guardian Theo Byrne is a promising young scientist who has found a way to search for life on other planets dozens of light years away. He is also the widowed father of a most unusual nine-year-old. His son Robin is funny, loving and filled with plans. He thinks and feels deeply, adores animals and can spend hours painting elaborate pictures. But after a violent outburst from Robin at school, the strength of their close bond will be tested to its limits... What can a father do, when those around him refuse to understand his rare and troubled child? And how can he reveal to his boy the truth about our beautiful, bewildered world? 'This book had me in tears' Monique Roffey, author of The Mermaid of Black Conch 'Refreshing, original and moving' Evening Standard 'It is impossible to deny the importance of Powers' message' Sunday Times