Reference Books

Now including the top astronomical places to visit, star festivals and the latest on star parties in Britain and Ireland, the new 2024 edition is totally up-to-date for exploring the wonder of the night skies, month-by-month and day-by-day. Whether you're a seasoned astronomer or just starting out, Philip's Stargazing 2024 is the only book you'll need. Compiled by experts and specially designed for easy and daily use, Stargazing 2024 acts as a handily illustrated and comprehensive companion. Includes 12 updated sky charts for year-round astronomical discovery, Month-to-Month information. Daily Moon Phase Calendar, highlighting special lunar events throughout the year and planet Watch for ideal viewing days in 2024. Find the best places to experience Dark Skies, along with the latest on Star Festivals and Star Parties and the top places to visit for astronomical insights. With expert advice and insight throughout from internationally renowned Prof Nigel Henbest, a special article on the use of filters for astro-photography by expert Robin Scagell, the complete calendar of major astronomical events, including the Top 20 Sky Sights of 2024 and Jargon Buster, explaining common or confusing terms, the planets' movements explained from solar and lunar eclipses to meteor showers and comets.  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781849076517 • Author: Nigel Henbest • Publisher:  Philip's • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  96 • Dimensions: 14.9 x 14.9 x 21 cm

Ripley's Believe It or Not! is guaranteed to amaze and entertain children and adults alike with its unique blend of weird but true stories and jaw-dropping facts gathered from all over the world. This year... Marvel at the ice caves of Alaska. Find out what very unusual food Icelanders eat at their traditional mid-winter feast. Discover why Lucas the penguin has to wear rubber boots. Hear about the woman who sailed down the Missouri River in a giant hollowed-out pumpkin. And take the 'Funny Bones' test to see whether you can match photographs of skeletons to their animal owners. No Christmas is complete without Ripley's! Product Information: • ISBN: 9781529941203 • Author: Ripley • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Hardback • Pages: 256 • Dimensions: 30.5 x 23.6 x 2.2cm

Join Winnie the Pooh and friends on a charming journey through the Hundred-Acre Wood. Follow Winnie the Pooh as he wanders through his day, discovering how the beauty of the natural world, the kindness of friends and the joy of a drop of honey can inspire wonder and gratitude. These beautifully illustrated mindful moments are accompanied by simple affirmations to encourage reflection on how the little things in life can spark joy and appreciation. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781800787629 • Author: Walt Disney • Publisher: Bonnier Books UK Limited • Format: Hardback     • Pages: 128 • Dimensions: 21 x 14.8cm

Conspiracy theories are nothing new: history is littered with stories that offer the flipside to the accepted truth, and the cases gathered here cover a wide array of subjects including aliens, secret societies, government, cover-ups and celebrity deaths. Explore intriguing tales that suggest pictures of the moon landing were faked, the world is run my lizards from outer space and much more. Each compelling case covers the facts we think we know, and the theories that have been presented since. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781802420371 • Author: Leo Moynihan • Publisher: Quarto Publishing • Format: Paperback

Assaults. Riots. Cell fires. Medical emergencies. Understaffed wings. Suicides. Hooch. Weapons. It's all in a week's work at HMP Parkhurst. After 28 years working as a prison officer, with 22 years at HMP Parkhurst, once one of Britain's most high security prisons, David Berridge has had to deal with it all: serial killers and gangsters, terrorists and sex offenders, psychopaths and addicts. Inside Parkhurst is his raw, uncompromising look at what really goes on behind the massive walls and menacing gates. Thrown in at the deep end, David quickly had to work out how to deal with the most cunning and volatile of prisoners, and learn how to avoid their many scams. He has been assaulted and abused; he has tackled cell fires and attempted suicides, riots and dirty protests; he has helped to foil escaped plans, talked inmates down from rooftop protests, witnessed prisoners setting fire to themselves, and prevented prisoners from attempting to murder other prisoners. And now he takes us inside this secret world for the first time. With this searingly honest account he guides us around the wings, the segregation unit, the hospital and the exercise yard, and gives vivid portraits of the drug taking, the hooch making, the constant and irrepressible violence, and the extraordinary lengths our prison officers go to everyday. Divided into three parts - the first from David's early years on the wings, the second the middle of his career, and the third his disillusioned later years - David will take readers into the heart of life inside and shine a light on the escalating violence and the impact the government cuts are having on the wings. Both horrifying and hilarious, David's diaries are guaranteed to shock and entertain in equal measure. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781841884226 • Author: David Berridge • Publisher: Seven Dials • Format: Paperback • Pages: 304 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm

The remarkable inside story of how two Hollywood A-listers, Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, stunned the football world by buying a non-league club in North Wales. It was one of the most extraordinary takeovers British football has known. In February 2021, Ryan Reynolds joined with Rob McElhenney to buy Wrexham FC, a non-league team in North Wales. Wrexham, a former coal and steel town dealing with its post-industrial legacy, suddenly found itself at the centre of global attention, with broadcast networks around the world descending to discover what was going on. The club became the subject of a smash hit Disney+ docu-series, Welcome to Wrexham. Tinseltown tells the story of this extraordinary, unpredictable and often surreal football takeover and the remarkable events that followed. Written with the full cooperation of Wrexham FC, it is the inside story of what happened when Hollywood met a dot on a map. How a town was transformed when its football club, aspiring only to survive on the fifth rung of the British football ladder, was sprinkled with gold dust and found ambition again. With unique access to key figures, the book charts the club's attempts to climb up the pyramid, providing a vivid sense of what it is like to play for this 'Hollywood' team and the pressure and spotlight that comes with it. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781035407705 • Author:  Ian Herbert • Publisher:  Headline • Format:  Hardback • Pages:  400 • Dimensions:   16.4 x 3.8 x 23.8 cm

Overall Winner and Winner of Non-Fiction Lifestyle Book of the Year at The British Book Awards 2023! Menopausing is more than just a book, it’s a movement. An uprising. Menopause affects every woman, and yet so many approach it with shame, fear, misinformation or silence. Why is no one talking about this? Who has the correct information? And how can we get it? That’s how this book has come about. We are going to tell you the truth, so you can make an informed decision about your life and your body … mic drop. For too long, women have had to keep quiet about menopause – its onset, its symptoms, its treatments – and what it means for us. Menopausing will build an empowered, supportive community to break this terrible silence once and for all. By exploring and explaining the science, debunking damaging myths, and smashing the taboos around perimenopause and menopause, this book will equip women to make the most informed decisions about their health… and their lives. Menopausing will also celebrate the sharing of stories, enabling women to feel less alone and more understood and talk openly and positively about menopause. No more scaremongering: just evidence-based info, no shame: real women, real menopause stories, real empathy, real community, honest, no-holds-barred advice: Dry vagina? Zero sex drive? Hair loss? We’ve got it covered. The start of a movement: to get everyone talking about menopause in every home, GP surgery and workspace Product Information: • ISBN: 9780008517786 • Author: Davina McCall • Publisher: HQ  • Format: Hardback • Pages: 304 • Dimensions: 24 x 17.6 x 3 cm

In the early years of Queen Victoria's reign, HMS Erebus undertook two of the most ambitious naval expeditions of all time. On the first, she ventured further south than any human had ever been. On the second, she vanished with her 129-strong crew in the wastes of the Canadian Arctic, along with the HMS Terror. Her fate remained a mystery for over 160 years. Then, in 2014, she was found. This is her story. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781787468047 • Author: Michael Palin • Publisher: Arrow • Format: Paperback • Pages: 352 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 2.6 cm

This book will score a major-league success with sport obsessives and casual fans alike... Any true fan knows that the porcelain umpire’s chair is an ideal place to put your sporting knowledge to the test. This compendium of fun activities and quiz questions will have you spotting the difference at Wembley, finding a lost helmet at Lord’s, and going for gold in Olympic omniscience. From bestselling author and professional brain-teaser Hugh Jassburn, this illustrated puzzle book includes a range of challenges relating to football, rugby, tennis, cricket, athletics, golf, boxing, basketball, rowing, snooker and more. Pit your wits against such quiz questions as these: What is the lowest darts score you can’t achieve with a single dart? In 1981 Muhammad Ali retired from boxing – what was his career record? What is Tiger Woods’ real first name? Who was the first cricket player to score a century and take ten wickets in a test match? What sport has four letters, is played all around the world, and begins with a “t”? Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781786852687 • Author: Hugh Jassburn • Publisher:  Summersdale • Format:  Hardback • Pages:  112 • Dimensions: 14.8 x 1.7 x 14.6 cm

There's whiskers in the whiskey! Cats love a drink! When you're not looking, your kitty is busy getting liquored up. This book gathers the best photos of cats getting buzzed off booze and looking pawfully pitiful the morning after. And to aid your appreciation, these snaps of sordid and sozzled pussycats have been paired with hilarious captions telling us what their meowing actually means. Bottoms up! Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781800070202 • Author:  Charlie Ellis • Publisher:  Summersdale • Format:  Hardback • Pages:  96 • Dimensions:  14.73 x 1.65 x 14.61 cm

How did the world's most remarkable people get that way? This is a book about how the highest-performing people changed their lives - and how you can change yours. Drawing on interviews with record-setting athletes, Olympic coaches and billionaire founders, Jake Humphrey and Professor Damian Hughes introduce the five simple steps that take you from where you are to where you want to be. And they introduce the cutting-edge research that explains why these surprisingly simple tools are so effective. It is never too late to change. This book shows you how. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781529903225 • Author: Jake Humphrey & Damian Hughes • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Hardback • Pages: 272 • Dimensions: 24.1 x 16 x 2.5 cm

Dogs love a drink! When you're not looking, your four-legged friend is busy knocking them back. This book gathers the best photos of dogs getting buzzed off booze and looking pawfully pitiful the morning after. And to add to your amusement, these snaps of hedonistic and hazy hounds have been paired with hilarious captions telling us what their barking is all about. Raise a glass to these howl-raisers! Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781800070219 • Author:  Charlie Ellis • Publisher:  Summersdale • Format:  Hardback • Pages:  96 • Dimensions:  14.73 x 1.65 x 14.61 cm