Glimpse into the life of one of Britain's best-loved comic writers - Sue Townsend - with this hilarious collection of her anecdotes and musings. ___________ Enter the world of Susan Lilian Townsend - all our welcome! This sparkling collection of Sue Townsend's hilarious non-fiction covers everything from hosepipe bans to Spanish restaurants, from writer's block to slug warfare, from slob holidays to the banning of beige. These funny, perceptive and touching pieces reveal Sue, ourselves and the nation in an extraordinary new light. Sit back and chortle away as one of Britain's most popular and acclaimed writers takes a feather to your funny bone. Witty, and laugh-out-loud funny, The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman (Aged 553⁄4) is essential reading for any Sue Townsend fan. _____________ 'Anyone who loved The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole will enjoy this collection of witty and sharply observed jottings from the inimitable Sue Townsend. Great stuff' OK! 'Full of homely, hilarious asides on the absurdities of domestic existence . . . What a fantastic advertisement for middle-age - it can't be bad if it's this funny' Heat 'A welcome addition to any bookshelf' Hello! 'It's as if Townsend has caught our idiosyncrasies on candid camera and is showing a rerun of all the silly clips . . . the ideal dip-in-and-out book' Time Out

Discover the brilliantly funny True Confessions of Margaret Hilda Roberts by Sue Townsend, 'the funniest person in the world' - Caitlin Moran, The Times Tuesday May 24th Had a lie in until 6am. Then got out of bed and had a brisk rub down with the pumice stone. I opened the curtains and saw that the sun was shining brightly. (A suspicion is growing in my mind that the BBC is not to be trusted.) Margaret Hilda Roberts is a rather ambitious 14 1⁄4 year old grocer's daughter from Grantham. She can't abide laziness, finds four hours of chemistry homework delightful and believes she is of royal birth - or at least destined for great things. But Margaret knows that good things never come to those who wait . . . These are the secret diary entries of a girl born into an ordinary life, yet who might just go on to become something really rather extraordinary, and she is brilliantly brought vividly to life by bestselling author Sue Townsend, Britain's favourite comic writer for over three decades. 'Essential reading for Mole followers' Times Educational Supplement 'Wonderfully funny and sharp as knives' Sunday Times

Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady is Florence King's classic memoir of her upbringing in an eccentric Southern family, told with all the uproarious wit and gusto that has made her one of the most admired writers in the country. Florence may have been a disappointment to her Granny, whose dream of rearing a Perfect Southern Lady would never be quite fulfilled. But after all, as Florence reminds us, "no matter which sex I went to bed with, I never smoked on the street."

What is it like to go blind? 350 million people around the world live with severe vision impairment, ranging from those who can see a couple of letters on a sight chart to those who perceive no light at all. In this book we meet some of them, including artists, poets, scientists, architects, politicians, broadcasters and musicians. Together, we discuss every stage of life with vision impairment – from childhood and education to dating, employment and ageing – as well as the portrayal of blind people in literature and film, the use of technology by people with vision impairment, and the psychological effects of losing vision. Vision Impairment also reviews the major causes of sight loss today and shows the effect of these diseases on visual function. It surveys new and emerging treatments for serious eye diseases and explores what it is like to have vision restored after decades of being blind. Based on Michael Crossland’s extensive work in children’s and adults’ low vision clinics, and his 20 years of research into vision impairment, the book blends individual stories, key research findings and the most recent scientific discoveries to present an informative yet optimistic overview of living with sight loss. Praise for Vision Impairment ‘The key strength of this book is how scientific concepts around ophthalmology, vision science and sight loss are brought to life by letting patients explain what these concepts mean to them. This is not a book that has been written “about” patients; it has been written “with” them. In this sense, it is very much original, and I enjoyed reading it tremendously.’ Keziah Latham, Anglia Ruskin University

Over 3,200 entries An essential guide to authors and their works that focuses on the general canon of British literature from the fifteenth century to the present. There is also some coverage of non-fiction such as biographies, memoirs, and science, as well as inclusion of major American and Commonwealth writers. This online-exclusive new edition adds 60,000 new words, including over 50 new entries dealing with authors who have risen to prominence in the last five years, as well as fully updating the entries that currently exist. Each entry provides details of a writer's nationality and birth/death dates, followed by a listing of their titles arranged chronologically by date of publication.

Get yourself TWO BOOKS IN ONE for this amazing price. 'I not only wept, I howled and hooted and had to get up and walk around the room and wipe my eyes so that I could go on reading' Tom Sharpe THE MUST-HAVE CHRISTMAS GIFT for devoted Adrian Mole fans. Celebrate Adrian Mole's 50th Birthday with this new double edition, featuring the FIRST TWO BOOKS in the hilarious collection and see life through the spectacles of a misunderstood boy growing up in the early 1980s. --------------------------- Friday January 2nd I felt rotten today. It's my mother's fault for singing 'My Way' at two o'clock in the morning at the top of the stairs. Just my luck to have a mother like her. There is a chance my parents could be alcoholics. Next year I could be in a children's home. Meet Adrian Mole, a hapless teenager providing an unabashed, pimples-and-all glimpse into adolescent life. Telling us candidly about his parents' marital troubles, The Dog, his life as a tortured poet and 'misunderstood intellectual', his love for the divine Pandora and his horror at learning of his mother's pregnancy, Adrian's painfully honest diary is a hilarious and heartfelt chronicle of misspent adolescence. Features the complete texts of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3⁄4 and The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole. 'I've never experienced a greater sense of recognition than when reading The Secret Diary' David Nicholls 'Every sentence is witty and well thought out, and the whole has reverberations beyond itself' The Times 'Townsend has held a mirror up to the nation and made us happy to laugh at what we see in it' Sunday Telegraph 'One of the great comic creations' Daily Mirror 'The funniest person in the world' Caitlin Moran

A comprehensive guide to fiction in English for readers aged four to sixteen, The Puffin Good Reading Guide for Children is divided into three sections to suit every age group. It has entries listing over 1000 books, and is divided into categories with cross-references so that children can read more in genres they like. It includes both classics and the best of contemporary works and books from all over the world. With an introduction by Ruskin Bond, India's best-known children's writer in English, The Puffin Good Reading Guide is an invaluable resource for children who love books, as well as for parents and friends looking for the right book for the young people in their lives.

THE BRILLIANTLY FUNNY SEQUEL TO THE QUEEN AND I FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE ADRIAN MOLE SERIES What if being Royal was a crime? The UK has come over all republican. The Royal Family exiled to an Exclusion Zone with the other villains and spongers. And to cap it all, the Queen has threatened to abdicate. Yet Prince Charles is more interested in root vegetables than reigning ... unless his wife Camilla can be Queen in a newly restored monarchy. But when a scoundrel who claims to be the couple's secret love-child offers to take the crown off their hands, the stage is set for a right Royal show down. And the question for Camilla (and rest of the country) will be: Queen of the vegetable patch or Queen of England? _____________ 'Brilliantly satirical' Evening Standard 'One of our finest living comic writers' The Times 'Brilliantly funny' Closer 'Another fantastic read from Townsend' OK!