Other Non Fiction

Maybe you have the urge to sew but don't want to be stuck behind your sewing machine all the time - English paper piecing quilting (read more)

Maybe you have the urge to sew but don't want to be stuck behind your sewing machine all the time - English paper piecing quilting is wonderfully portable. You can stitch on the train, bus, or airplane, in waiting rooms, in the car while your baby naps, or at the beach - all the stolen moments when your hands are idle. Learn to build a tool kit with everything you need to get stitching.

When you're done, just snap it shut and your project is safe and waiting for when you're ready to sew again. Clear explanations and step-by-step photography will have you stitching in no time and, before you know it, beautiful patterns will materialize from your fingers, which you can use to create a colorful quilt, a cushion, a bag, and much more. Includes detailed instructions for preparing templates, basting techniques, joining pieces and finishing techniques, and with a myriad patterns to try, you'll find this book full of inspiration for you to find an idea and make it your own. (hide)

Pub Date:10/01/2015 - The great arched train sheds of Victorian Britain are often seen as the nineteenth-century equivalent of medieval (read more)

Pub Date:10/01/2015 - The great arched train sheds of Victorian Britain are often seen as the nineteenth-century equivalent of medieval cathedrals: once specific railway buildings became necessary around 1830 British architects seized the opportunity with both hands, designing some of the great buildings of their age. However, these grand buildings are only part of the story - not only was the country peppered with humbler individually styled station buildings, but also with bridges, signal boxes, engine sheds and other structures specific to the railways. In this illustrated introduction, Bill Fawcett tells the story of railway architecture from the age of George Stephenson to modern times, including such influential architects as Sir George Gilbert Scott and Charles Holden. (hide)

The New York Times Bestseller From former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins comes a twelfth collection of poetry offering nearly fifty (read more)

The New York Times Bestseller From former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins comes a twelfth collection of poetry offering nearly fifty new poems that showcase his trademark generosity, wit, and imaginative play. The Rain in Portugal - a title that admits he's not much of a rhymer - sheds Collins's ironic light on such subjects as travel and art, cats and dogs, loneliness and love, beauty and death.

His tones range from the whimsical - 'the dogs of Minneapolis .../ have no idea they're in Minneapolis' - to the elegiac in a reaction to the death of Seamus Heaney. A student of the everyday, here Collins contemplates a weathervane, a still-life painting, the calendar, and a child lost at a beach. His imaginative fabrications have Shakespeare flying comfortably in first class and Keith Richards supporting the globe on his head.

Pub Date:26/01/2017
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Wouldn't it be useful to be able to accurately predict the weather simply by reading the clouds? Well, with this book, you can! TV (read more)

Wouldn't it be useful to be able to accurately predict the weather simply by reading the clouds? Well, with this book, you can! TV forecasts, online predictions and smartphone apps are all based on the same data - a number-crunched overview of how air pressure and temperature affect the weather across a large geographical area. But to get an idea of how the weather will develop for the precise spot where you're standing (or walking, sailing, golfing, fishing, etc) you don't need any equipment or a wifi connection - you just need to look up. This book will give you a broad understanding of why the clouds are symptoms of weather patterns, not causes.

By reading these signs in the sky and referring to the explanatory colour photographs, you will discover exactly what those signs mean. An at-a-glance guide to the clouds for anyone anywhere in the world, on land or at sea, this book will enable you to predict the weather by recognising cloud types, shapes, colour and behaviour. It will be an invaluable companion for anyone who enjoys outdoor activities.
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The bestselling Reeds Handbooks are hugely popular with boaters on board and at home, and the Reeds Weather Handbook continues in (read more)

The bestselling Reeds Handbooks are hugely popular with boaters on board and at home, and the Reeds Weather Handbook continues in this same tradition. This essential pocket-sized guide equips the reader with all the tools to predict and deal with local and distant weather conditions, whether on a day trip or a longer cruise, along the coast or further offshore. Each topic is broken down into digestible chapters, explaining the origins and effects of the full spectrum of weather conditions, including: - using and evaluating weather forecasts - depressions, fronts, isobars and other coastal effects - waves and swells - weather lore and sky watching With practical explanations and helpful diagrams and photographs, this is the ideal aide-memoire for skippers and crew, especially those studying for their Day Skipper and Yachtmaster exams. (hide)

Good lighting is essential to a building. An effective design is not just about introducing light into a space, but rather an appreciation (read more)

Good lighting is essential to a building. An effective design is not just about introducing light into a space, but rather an appreciation of how the space will be used. A good lighting design is so intertwined with the building that it is only noticed in its absence.

This book introduces the tools of the lighting designer and explains how to produce a lighting design for a home. Looking at the nature of light and introducing different lamps and light fittings available, it explains the basics of lighting design and how to provide atmosphere through the play of light and shadow. It gives room-by-room analysis of good lighting design and gives advice on controls, plus an overview of the pitfalls of dimming and energy saving.

Residential Lighting Design explains the nature and quality of light, how to use it in the home and how to create a beautiful space. (hide)

In the last decade over 6,000 rhinos have been killed in South Africa. Relentless poaching for their horns has led to a catastrophic (read more)

In the last decade over 6,000 rhinos have been killed in South Africa. Relentless poaching for their horns has led to a catastrophic fall in black rhino numbers. Meanwhile a corrupt South African government turns a blind eye to the international trade in rhino horn.

This is the background to Peter Hain's brilliantly pacey and timely thriller. Battling to defend the dwindling rhino population, a veteran freedom fighter is forced to break his lifetime loyalty to the ANC as he confronts corruption at the very highest level. The stakes are high.

Published:3 Jun 2021 (hide)

The Royal Horticultural Society's definitive guide to propagating, nurturing, and designing with more than 200 cacti and succulents. (read more)

The Royal Horticultural Society's definitive guide to propagating, nurturing, and designing with more than 200 cacti and succulents. How can you encourage your bunny ear cactus to flower and flourish? What is the best method for propagating an echeveria or kalanchoe? What exactly are living stones, and where do they grow in the wild?RHS Practical Cactus & Succulent Book is the ultimate reference book for cactus and succulent enthusiasts. An extensive illustrated plant directory profiles more than 200 succulent and cactus varieties, with instructions on how to grow each one.
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66 million years ago the dinosaurs were wiped from the face of the earth. Today, Dr. Steve Brusatte, one of the leading scientists (read more)

66 million years ago the dinosaurs were wiped from the face of the earth. Today, Dr. Steve Brusatte, one of the leading scientists of a new generation of dinosaur hunters, armed with cutting edge technology, is piecing together the complete story of how the dinosaurs ruled the earth for 150 million years.

The world of the dinosaurs has fascinated on book and screen for decades - from early science fiction classics like The Lost World, to Godzilla terrorizing the streets of Tokyo, and the monsters of Jurassic Park. But what if we got it wrong? In The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, top dinosaur expert Brusatte, tells the real story of how dinosaurs rose to dominate the planet. Using the fossil clues that have been gathered using state of the art technology, Brusatte follows these magnificent creatures from their beginnings in the Early Triassic period, through the Jurassic period to their final days in the Cretaceous and the legacy that they left behind. (hide)

Celebrate the women who rock, with this fully illustrated tribute to 50 iconic female musicians and bands. Award-winning radio personality (read more)

Celebrate the women who rock, with this fully illustrated tribute to 50 iconic female musicians and bands. Award-winning radio personality Meredith Ochs takes an insightful look at 50 rock icons who indelibly shook up the music scene, whether solo or in a band. Profiling women from the 1950s to today, and from multiple genres, Ochs tells the dramatic stories behind their journeys to success, their music, and their enduring impact.

Published:7 Oct 2018 (hide)