‘This is fantastic’ THE TIMES ‘Truly, this is food for thought’ CAL FLYN ‘Universally urgent. Everyone should read it.’ CAROLINE EDEN ‘Deeply relatable’ THE SPECTATOR ‘Engaging stories and lively sanity’ HATTIE ELLIS ‘Essential reading for anyone that eats’ JAKE FIENNES - The food stories behind your favourite fruits and vegetables. Have you ever wondered who picked your Fairtrade banana? Or why we can buy British strawberries in April? How far do you think your green beans travelled to get to your plate? And where do all the wonky carrots go? Above all, how do we stop worrying about our food choices and start making decisions that make a difference? In an effort to make sense of the complex food system we are all part of, Louise Gray decides to track the stories of our five-a-day from farm to fruit bowl, and discover the impact that growing fruits and vegetables has on the planet. Through visits to farms, interviews with scientists and trying to grow her own, she digs up the dirt behind organic potatoes, greenhouse tomatoes and a glut of courgettes. In each chapter, Louise answers a question about a familiar item in our shopping basket. Is plant protein as good as meat? Is foraged food more nutritious? Could bees be the answer to using fewer chemicals? How do we save genetic diversity in our apples? Are digital apps the key to reducing food waste? Is gardening good for mental health? And is the symbol of clean eating, the avocado, fuelling the climate crisis? As pressure grows via social media to post pictures of food that ticks all the boxes in terms of health and the environment, these food stories from the author of the award-winning The Ethical Carnivore are also a personal story of motherhood and the realisation that nothing is ever perfect.

The food stories behind your favourite fruits and vegetables. Have you ever wondered who picked your Fairtrade banana? Or why we can buy British strawberries in April? How far do you think your green beans travelled to get to your plate? And where do all the wonky carrots go? Above all, how do we stop worrying about our food choices and start making decisions that make a difference? In an effort to make sense of the complex food system we are all part of, Louise Gray decides to track the stories of our five-a-day, from farm to fruit bowl, and discover the impact that growing fruits and vegetables has on the planet. Through visits to farms, interviews with scientists and trying to grow her own, she digs up the dirt behind organic potatoes, greenhouse tomatoes and a glut of courgettes. In each chapter, Louise answers a question about a familiar item in our shopping basket. Is plant protein as good as meat? Is foraged food more nutritious? Could bees be the answer to using fewer chemicals? How do we save genetic diversity in our apples? Are digital apps the key to reducing food waste? Is gardening good for mental health? And is the symbol of clean eating, the avocado, fuelling the climate crisis? As pressure grows via social media to post pictures of food that ticks all the boxes in terms of health and the environment, these food stories from the author of the award-winning The Ethical Carnivore are also a personal story of motherhood and the realisation that nothing is ever perfect.

A sweet and gentle story about sisters, trust, parrots, disappearing . . . and doing the right thing. Eight-year-old Izzy is more curious, playful and clumsy than her serious, grown-up sister Carrie. In fact Izzy is much more like Gran, an eccentric scientist who has a house full of weird and wonderful pets. But when one of Gran's experiments backfires, Izzy discovers that she has the ability to become invisible! That is, unless Perky the parrot is perched on her shoulder, or she has one of his feathers safely stowed in her pocket. Yikes! While Gran searches for an antidote, Izzy explores her invisibility - to her and Perky's amusement - but Mum, Dad and Carrie aren't impressed. Can Izzy prove that she is using her invisibility to help those around her, and regain her sister's trust?

"World music" is an awkward phrase. Used to describe the hugely multifaceted nature of a range of typically non-English-language popular music from the world over, it's a tag that throws up as many problems as it does solutions.

Louise Gray's "The No-Nonsense Guide to World Music" attempts to go behind the phrase to explore the reasons for the contemporary interest in world music, who listens to it, and why. Through chapters that focus on specific areas of music, such as rembetika, fado, trance music, and new folk, Gray explores the genres that have emerged from marginalized communities, music in conflict zones, and music as escapism.

In this unique guide, which combines the seduction of sound with politics and social issues, the author makes the case for music as a powerful tool able to bring individuals together.

Louise Gray is a writer and editor whose work on music and performing arts has appeared in the "New Internationalist," "The Wire," "The Independent on Sunday," the "Guardian," and "Art Review." She co-edited "Sound and the City" (British Council, 2007), a book exploring the changing soundworld of China.

Since it was founded in 1982, The Wire magazine has covered a vast range of alternative, experimental, underground and non-mainstream music. Now some of that knowledge has been distilled into The Wire Primers a comprehensive guide to the core recordings of some of the most visionary and inspiring, subversive and radical musicians on the planet, past and present. Each chapter surveys the musical universe of a particular artist, group or genre by way of a contextualizing introduction and a thumbnail guide to the most essential recordings. A massive and eclectic range of music is celebrated and demystified, from rock mavericks such as Captain Beefheart and The Fall; the funk of James Brown and Fela Kuti; the future jazz of Sun Ra and Ornette Coleman; and the experimental compositions of John Cage and Morton Feldman. Genres surveyed and explained include P-funk, musique concrete, turntablism, Brazilian Tropicalia, avant metal and dubstep. The Wire Primers is a vital guide to contemporary sounds, providing an accessible entry point for any reader wanting to dig below the surface of mainstream music.

Winner of 2 awards at the 2017 Guild of Food Writers Awards: Food Book Award and Campaigning and Investigative Food Work Award Shortlisted for the 2017 Fortnum & Mason Food Book of the Year A BBC Radio 4 Food Programme Book of the Year 2016 A Guardian Book of the Year 2016 We should all know exactly where our meat comes from. But what if you took this modern-day maxim to its logical conclusion and only ate animals you killed yourself? Louise Gray decides to be an ethical carnivore and learn to stalk, shoot and fish. Starting small, Louise shucks oysters and catches a trout. As she begins to reconnect with nature, she befriends countrymen and women who can teach her to shoot pigeons, rabbits and red deer. Louise begins to look into how meat is processed, including the beef in our burgers, cheap chicken, supermarket bacon and farmed fish. She investigates halal slaughter and visits abattoirs to ask whether new technology can make eating meat more humane. Delving into alternative food cultures, Louise finds herself sourcing roadkill and cooking a squirrel stir-fry, and she explores eating other sources of protein like in vitro meat, insects and plant-based options. With the global demand for meat growing, Louise argues that eating less meat should be an essential part of fighting climate change for all of us. Her writing on nature, food and the environment is full of humour, while never shying from the hard facts. Louise gets to the heart of modern anxieties about where our meat comes from, asking an important question for our time - is it possible to be an ethical carnivore?