A beguiling collection of observational poems and literary parodies which explore and celebrate snail culture, as told by a prematurely-crushed snail poet. Jamie McGarry of Scarborough and Valley Press writes with infectious verve and his poems are frequently romantic and always very funny. Several poems examine snailkind's unhealthy adoration of slugs - the rebels without shells of the kitchen garden - and highlights include a thrilling travel account ('A Snail of Two Cities') and a poignant account of moving house ('A Shell of My Former Self'). This book features a number of joyous homages to human poets including Robert Frost, John Betjeman, T.S. Eliot and Gervase Phinn, and was previously published by Valley Press. Jamie McGarry founded small publishing operation Valley Press in 2008, which he continues to run to this day. Uncovering and translating the original 'snail diary' in 2009, Jamie made it his mission in life to honour the author's memory, and spread the word of his literary prowess far and wide.

Probably the most autobiographical of his novels, From the Diary of a Snail balances the agonising history of the persecuted Danzig Jews with an account of Grass's political campaigning with Willie Brandt. Underlying all is the snail, the central symbol that is both model and a parody of social progress, and a mysterious metaphor for political reform. From the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature and author of The Tin Drum.

Recovered in the mid-1990s from the attic of a Turnbull family descendant, Martha Turnbull's garden diary offers the most extensive surviving first-hand account of nineteenth-century plantation life and gardening in the Deep South. Landscape architecture professor and preservationist Suzanne Turner spent fifteen years transcribing and annotating the original manuscript, making it accessible to twenty-first-century gardening enthusiasts. The resulting dialogue between Turnbull's diary entries and Turner's illuminating notes demonstrates the pivotal role that kitchen and pleasure gardens held in the lives of planter families. In addition, the diary documents the relationship between the mistress and the enslaved whose labor made her vast gardens possible. Turner's exquisite interpretation reveals not only an energetic gardener but also a well-read one, eager to experiment with the newest gardening trends. Illustrated with engravings from period books, journals, and nursery catalogs, Turner's annotations provide the reader with a deeper understanding of American horticultural history. The diary, spanning the years 1836 through 1894, reveals the portrait of a courageous and resilient woman. After the tragic loss of her two sons and husband prior to the Civil War, Martha assumed full responsibility for her family and the plantation. She endured living under siege during the war and persevered during Reconstruction by growing and selling food as a truck farmer. By working daily in her ornamental garden and faithfully maintaining her diary for nearly sixty years, she found the solace and peace to look forward to the future.

In this astonishingly assured, exquisitely crafted debut collection, Anthony Doerr takes readers from the African coast to the suburbs of Ohio, from sideshow pageantry to harsh wilderness survival, charting a vast and varied emotional landscape. Like the best storytellers, Doerr explores the human condition in all its manifestations: metamorphosis, grief, fractured relationships, and slowly mending hearts. Most dazzling is Doerr's gift for conjuring nature in both its beautiful abundance and crushing power. Some of his characters contend with tremendous hardship; some discover unique gifts; all are united by their ultimate deference to the mysteries of their respective landscapes.

For fifteen years, Tim Bradford has meandered round the quiet streets of his North London home, seeking out the ordinary and the extraordinary, the sublime and the ridiculous. A London Country Diary documents his wanderings – he attempts to rescue a deer in Clissold Park, talks to a magical old man in Holloway, breaks up a fight in Stoke Newington and has issues with foxes in Highbury. And that's just the beginning. All of life is in these pages. Well, some. OK, just a little bit. But with its idiosyncratic wit and charming illustrations, this book is a timely reminder that you can find beauty, humour and life, wherever you call home.

George Orwell was an inveterate keeper of diaries. Eleven diaries are presented here covering the period 1931-1949 from his early years as a writer up to his last literary notebook.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1843.

Behind every good farmer is a great farmer's wife though the farmer in question may not always appreciate this! Having been married to John for over 30 years, Bobbi Mothersdale knows this more than anyone. Through her diary, Bobbi gives a wry, comical and yet realistic account of life on their East Yorkshire farm. Over the course of the year, we meet her friends and family as well as the three dogs, numerous hens and crafty guinea fowl that play such a big part in their daily routine. Like any farming family they have good days mixed with bad and have to deal with adverse weather, bureaucratic challenges and uncooperative livestock. Bobbi's accounts of her irate farming husband thwarted once again by the gods of rain or a petulant sheep will be instantly recognisable to anyone who has ever worked on a farm and on many an occasion you will find yourself laughing out loud at her description of the situations she finds herself in.Illustrated with 24 beautiful sketches by Jacquie Sinclair, Bobbi's dry and witty way with words can not fail to amuse and endear you. If you are a farmer's wife, you will find this an unputdownable must-read that you will want to share with all your friends.Though be warned - you might need to prise it away from your husband and his friends first. ..