A daily dose of joy and wisdom. Just what we need to chase the gloom away!' OLIVIA COLMAN This book makes me smile every day.' FEARNE COTTON

Why is a heart not heart-shaped? Will I ever understand cryptocurrency? What am I doing when I apricate? And is everything getting worse?

Finding the time to appreciate the bounty of our world can be tricky amid the demands of work, family and scrolling our phones. Happily, E. Foley and B. Coates have curated A Year of Living Curiously, a book of daily shots of knowledge that will lift your spirits and expand your mind in a flash. In 365 joyfully random, utterly fascinating entries, you'll learn what the Japanese mean by 'kuchisabishii' and how the Victorians communicate through flowers; you'll start to get quantum computing and discover the secret history of the bobble hat. There are tales of footballing bees and Viking mice, the beginning of the thesaurus and the end of the library of Alexandria.

Spend just two minutes a day with this glorious almanac of curious treasure and you'll end your year full of wonder and just that little bit wiser.

'What guts. What attitude! These are the immortals I wish I'd learned about at school.' OLIVIA COLMAN Channel the feminist power of mythical goddesses in this witty, inspirational gift book. 'Wonderful.' CERYS MATTHEWS Whether it's the Norse warrior goddess Freya breaking all the rules, the Yoruba goddess Oshun being unafraid to ask for what she's owed, or the Japanese goddess Uzume finding humour and playfulness in even the most embarrassing of situations: this fierce and fantastic tour of 25 ancient deities reclaims these feminist icons for a new generation. Why settle for mere mortal excellence when you could be living like a goddess? Divinely illustrated by Georgia Perry, You Goddess! will help you conquer today's world.

Tired of your boss bropropriating your ideas and presenting them as his own?

Wondering if the pursuit of having it all has in fact resulted in having not very much?

It is time to start channelling the spiky superwomen of history to conquer today. It is time to turn to women like Frida Kahlo and Josephine Baker, Hypatia and Cleopatra, Coco Chanel and Empress Cixi. In this irreverent guide they will help you figure out how to dispatch a loverat, back yourself, kill it at work and trounce FoMo.

With original illustrations by Bijou Karman, What Would Boudicca Do? will make you fired-up and ready for anything.

Homework for Grown-ups will entertain while exercising the mind and equip you to handle your child's lockdown home-schooling without humiliation. Any idea why the sky is blue? Confused about chromosomes? Don't know your isosceles from your equilateral? Forgotten what actually happened in 1066? And are you left slack-jawed when your children ask you what 'quid pro quo' means? With lessons in mathematics and algebra, English language and literature, chemistry and the sciences, geography, history, Latin, modern languages and more, Homework for Grown-ups... is packed with essential information, facts, figures and theories, along with fun but challenging test questions to keep you on your toes and reignite those long-dormant brain-cells. 'An obvious candidate to take to a desert island, along with Shakespeare and the Bible' Daily Telegraph

'Rather jolly and very helpful' The Times Need to swot up on your Shakespeare? The ultimate guide to the Bard, perfect for the Shakespeare aficionado and general reader alike. If you've always felt a bit embarrassed at your precarious grasp on the plot of Othello, or you haven't a clue what a petard (as in 'hoist with his own petard') actually is, then fear not, because this, at last, is the perfect guide to the Bard. From the authors of the number-one bestselling Homework for Grown-ups, Shakespeare for Grown-ups is the essential book for anyone keen to deepen their knowledge of they plays and sonnets. For parents helping with their children's homework, casual theatre-goers who want to enhance their enjoyment of the most popular plays and the general reader who feels they should probably know more about Britain's most splendid scribe, Shakespeare for Grown-ups covers Shakespeare's time; his personal life; his language; his key themes; his less familiar works and characters; his most famous speeches and quotations; phrases and words that have entered general usage, and much more.