Alan Bowen

Abiding is not a word we have much use for in everyday conversation. Yet Ben Quash shows that this one concept is central to the Christian life. Quash skilfully and creatively explores the implications that 'abiding' has for our bodies and minds, our relationships and communities, and our spiritual lives.

Badger is so old that he knows he must soon die, so he does his best to prepare his friends. When he finally passes away, they are grief-stricken, but one by one they remember the special things he taught them during his life. By sharing their memories, they realise that although Badger is no longer with them physically, he lives on through his friends.

The Durrell family returns to live on the island of Corfu, and already an ardent naturalist at the age of ten, the young Gerald lives in an unconventional and disordered household with his mother, sister and two brothers. Gerald spends hours observing and marvelling at the natural environment around him describing the island's beauty with a child-like wonder that he never fails to impart to his reader. Book 2 of series.

In central Delhi, a group of professionals are attending their therapeutic Laughing Club when an apparition of the Goddess Kali appears, and strikes one of them dead. The victim is celebrated sceptic Dr Suresh Jha, enemy of all gurus and mystics. And as it becomes clear that powerful forces are at play, one man is perfectly placed to investigate: the portly detective Vish Puri.

One night Mark Cocker followed the flock of rooks and jackdaws which regularly passed over his Norfolk home on their way to roost in the Yare valley. Step by step he uncovers the complexities of the birds' inner lives, the unforeseen richness hidden in the raucous crow song he calls 'our landscape made audible'. The result is a prose poem describing a landscape which we cohabit with thousands of other species, and these richly complex fellowships cannot be valued too highly.

This book is intended as some kind of comfort and guide in the new and frightening world experienced by recently diagnosed individuals who are facing the unknown territory of vision loss. It outlines many of the things that people new to sight loss need to know but are rarely told and, as such, it is intended as a guide for those with sight loss as well as those who care for and love them.

For eight-year-old Ajay Mishra and his older brother Birju, family life in Delhi in the late 1970s follows a comfortable, predictable routine: bathing on the roof, queuing for milk, playing day-long games of cricket in the street. Everything changes when their father finds a job in America, and the Mishras become the latest unknowns in the vast expanse of New York.

For the past three years, the widower Mr Malik has been secretly in love with Rose Mbikwa, who leads the weekly bird walks of the East African Ornithological Society. Just as he is getting up the nerve to invite Rose to the Nairobi Hunt Club Ball, who should pop up but Malik's nemesis from his school days. So begins the competition: whoever can identify the most species of birds in one week's time gets the privilege of asking the object of his affection to the ball.

Richard Holloway is one of our most beloved public thinkers. As Bishop of Edinburgh and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church he put principle over Church policy to advocate for gay rights and women in the priesthood. He never shied away from confronting his own doubts and fears, whether questioning his own faith, or facing the inevitability of death. Across numerous bestselling books he has been a radical voice of compassion and realism, helping us navigate the hectic modern world.

Throughout his life Richard has turned to poets and writers to help answer the big questions, and for solace and guidance in the face of life's challenges. Now in The Heart of Things he shares those poems and words which have been his own guide, offered in the hope they will help us too.

Here then are some lights along life's path, with thoughts and reflections on living well, death, sadness, regret, sin, conflict and forgiveness. All interwoven with Richard's philosophical consideration of what they have meant to him. This is a book to turn to for inspiration, guidance and comfort. It offers lessons from those who, in Richard's words, 'know best how to listen and teach us to listen', all united by 'the sensual appeal of words, the pain and pleasure they impart'. It is a book to treasure.

Wendy Billington gently explores ways of helping people remove the 'I'm fine!' mask and grow through the challenges posed by issues such as loneliness, low self-esteem and parenting pain, as well as a variety of addictive behaviours. Using case studies, Bible teaching and practical guidelines, Wendy shows how church members can understand and support one another, not only helping individuals but building a community that is characterised by loving, sensitive pastoral care.

On the Western Front millions are being slaughtered. But in East Africa a ridiculous and utterly ignored campaign is being waged - one that continues after the Armistice because no one bothers to tell the participants to stop. As the conflict sweeps up Africans and colonials, so those left at home and those fighting abroad find themselves unable to escape the tide of history bearing down on them.

In The Last Resort, journalist Douglas Rogers tells the eye-opening, harrowing and, at times, surprisingly funny story of his parents' struggle for survival in war-torn Zimbabwe. An inspiring, edgy roller-coaster adventure, it is also a deeply moving testament to the love and loyalty inspired by Zimbabwe and her people.

Lawrence Anthony's South African game reserve is home to many animals that he has saved. When he learned that there were only a handful of northern white rhinos left in the wild, living in an area of the Congo controlled by the infamous Lord's Resistance Army and soon to be hunted into extinction. Lawrence knew he had to take action.

The stories and legends of the Bushmen were told to Conrad when he was twelve years old. His father, Jack Hartmann, a brutal but confused man 'gave' Conrad an old Bushman to teach him the ways of the land. Bastiaan taught him not only about the beasts and plants and soil, but inculcated in Conrad a philosophy that would remain with him throughout his life.

Aimed at anyone who is stressed or anxious, as well as people suffering from more extreme levels of anxiety, this book will provide the scientific evidence behind the effectiveness of mindfulness as well as lots of practical advice on how to quiet an anxious, racing mind.

When Richard Mabey, Britain's foremost nature writer, fell into a severe depression, the natural world – which since childhood had been a source of joy and inspiration for him – became meaningless. Then, cared for by friends, he left the cosseting woods of the Chiltern hills for the open flatlands of Norfolk and started to write again. He found exhilaration in discovering a whole new landscape and gained fresh insights into our place in nature.

Jonathan Pine is the night manager at a luxury hotel. But when an attempt to pass on information to the British authorities backfires terribly, and people close to Pine begin to die, he commits himself to a battle against powerful forces he cannot begin to imagine.

Both for those who love walking in the countryside and those who enjoy reading, and musing on it in their armchair at home, here are 21 circular walks. They span the length and breadth of the British Isles: Wales, Staffordshire, Scotland, Sussex and Cornwall are just a few of the varied landscapes that they cover.

Josiah Wedgwood, perhaps the greatest English potter who ever lived, epitomized the best of his age. From his kilns and workshops in Stoke-on-Trent, he revolutionized the production of ceramics in Georgian Britain by marrying technology with design, manufacturing efficiency and retail flair. He transformed the luxury markets not only of London, Liverpool, Bath and Dublin but of America and the world, and helping to usher in a mass consumer society. Tristram Hunt calls him 'the Steve Jobs of the eighteenth century'.

But Wedgwood was radical in his mind and politics as well as in his designs. He campaigned for free trade and religious toleration, read pioneering papers to the Royal Society and was a member of the celebrated Lunar Society of Birmingham. Most significantly, he created the ceramic 'Emancipation Badge', depicting a slave in chains and inscribed 'Am I Not a Man and a Brother?' that became the symbol of the abolitionist movement.

Tristram Hunt's hugely enjoyable new biography, strongly based on Wedgwood's notebooks, letters and the words of his contemporaries, brilliantly captures the energy and originality of Wedgwood and his extraordinary contribution to the transformation of eighteenth-century Britain.

Murder most foul... An action-packed retelling of Shakespeare's dark tale of revenge and murder.

Rome's greatest general, Julius Caesar, returns to the city celebrating a glorious victory. But among the cheering crowds a group of conspirators are determined to prevent Caesar becoming king.

Two royal families - the Yorks and the Lancasters - have been fighting for the right to rule England for many years. Finally, King Edward IV takes the throne for the House of York, but Edward's younger brother, Richard, is jealous. Malicious, power-hungry, and bitter about his physical deformity, Richard plans to take the crown for himself - and kill anyone who stands in his way.

Marnus is terrified he will not fulfil the expectations of his elite Afrikaner family who are certain of their superiority. But when Mr Smith arrives, things start to change, affecting Marnus's values and everything around him that he he holds dear.

In April 1986 television journalist, John McCarthy, was kidnapped in Beirut and held for 5 years. For his fiance, Jill Morrell, John's captivity was a different kind of hell as she worked ceaselessly on behalf of all the British hostages in the Middle East, until the extraordinary day in 1991 when John stepped down from an aeroplane at RAF Lyneham.

Based on a luxurious cruise liner on its inaugural sailing in The Bahamas, where the Swimming with Pigs excursion is central to the plot. Jack Shaw is head of security for the Destiny Luxury Group's cruise ship. The role is new to him following his resignation from the police in London. The godmother of the ship isn't all she seems to be. Can Jack unravel the mysteries of the incidents emerging across the ship and beyond?

Don’t listen to this book if you want facts and figures about circumstances in World War II. Don’t listen to this book if you want the details about a battle or the strategy used in leading up to a particular period in the war. But do listen to this book if you want to know about the ordinary guys who were caught up in the global war during the 1940s.

Listen to this book if you’re interested in understanding how I was able to piece together the circumstances surrounding my father’s capture and imprisonment. By investigating the lives of other servicemen who ended up in POW camps in Japan I’ve been able to tell my father’s story.

Wounded and captured at Calais in May 1940, Second Lieutenant Airey Neave wasted little time before attempting to escape. Always a thorn in his captors’ sides, he earned his place in the “escape-proof” Colditz Castle. Undeterred, he had the distinction of being the first British officer to make a “home run,” via Switzerland, Vichy France, and Spain.

Soon back in France working with the French Resistance as a member of M.I.9, rescuing Allied airmen, he found himself playing a leading role saving stranded survivors of 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem.

Neave’s extraordinary memoir continues even after Germany’s surrender. Having arrested the directors of the mighty Krupp empire, he served with the Nuremburg War Crimes Tribunal where he came into personal contact with leading Nazis, gaining a unique insight into their characters and deeds.

We have lived in villages a long time. The ideal chocolate box image many holidaying to our Sceptred Isle have in their minds eye may be true in some cases, but across the country the heartbeat of the real English village is still beating strongly - if you can find it.

To this mission our intrepid historian and travel writer Tom Fort willingly gets on his trusty bicycle and covers the length and breadth of England to discover the essence of village life. His journeys will travel over six thousand years of communal existence for the peoples that eventually became the English. Littered between the historical analysis, are personal memories from Tom of the village life he remembers and enjoys today in rural Oxfordshire.

A true life account of a brutal murder that scandalized colonial Kenya, taking us deep into the decadent heart of British high-society and its imperial tensions.