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Jellybooks

Making Sense of Chaos

J. Doyne Farmer
Published on April 25, 2024 by Penguin Books Ltd

‘Doyne Farmer is the world's leading thinker on technological change. For decades he has focused on the question of how we can make sense of the data of today to see where the world is going tomorrow. This wonderful book applies these insights to economics, addressing the big global issues of environmental sustainability, and the well-being and prosperity of people around the world’ Max Roser, Founder of Our World in Data

We live in an age of increasing complexity, where accelerating technology and global interconnection hold more promise – and more peril – than any other time in human history. As well as financial crises, issues around climate change, automation, growing inequality and polarization are all rooted in the economy, yet standard economic predictions fail us.

Many books have been written about Doyne Farmer and his pioneering work in chaos and complexity theory. Making Sense of Chaos is the first in his own words, presenting a manifesto for doing economics better. In a tale of science and ideas, Farmer fuses his profound knowledge with stories from his life to explain how to harness a scientific revolution to address the economic conundrums facing society.

Using big data and ever more powerful computers, we can for the first time apply complex systems science to economic activity, building realistic models of the global economy. The resulting simulations and the emergent behaviour we observe form the cornerstone of complexity economics. This new science, Farmer shows, will allow us to test ideas and make significantly better economic predictions – and, ultimately, create a better world.

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Pathless Forest

Chris Thorogood
Published on March 14, 2024 by Penguin Books Ltd

The incredible of one man's obsession to find and protect the world's largest flowers

As a child, Chris Thorogood dreamed of seeing Rafflesia - the plant with the world's largest flowers. He crafted life-size replicas in an abandoned cemetery, carefully bringing them to life with paper and paint. Today he is a botanist at the University of Oxford's Botanic Garden and has dedicated his life to studying the biology of such extraordinary plants, working alongside botanists and foresters in Southeast Asia to document these huge, mysterious blooms.

Pathless Forest is the story of his journey to study and protect this remarkable plant - a biological enigma, still little understood, which invades vines as a leafless parasite and steals its food from them. We join him on a mind-bending adventure, as he faces a seemingly impenetrable barrier of weird, wonderful and sometimes fearsome flora; finds himself smacking off leeches, hanging off vines, wading through rivers; and following indigenous tribes into remote, untrodden rainforests in search of Rafflesia's ghostly, foul-smelling blooms, more than a metre across.

We depend on plants for our very existence, but two in five of the world's species are threatened with extinction - nobody knows how many species of Rafflesia might already have disappeared through deforestation. Pathless Forest is part thrilling adventure story and part an inspirational call to action to safeguard a fast-disappearing wilderness. To view plants in a different way, as vital for our own future as for that of the planet we share. And to see if Rafflesia itself can be saved.

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Hermit

Jade Angeles Fitton
Published on May 18, 2023 by Cornerstone

'I never imagined that the wind would blow me here, to a kind of isolation I have never experienced... There is never anything out here but my shadow, that no one treads on any more'

When Jade's partner leaves the barn that they moved into just weeks before, he leaves a dent in the wall and her life unravelled. Numbed from years in a destructive, abusive relationship, she faces an uncertain future and complete solitude. Slowly, with the help of Devon's salted cliffs and damp forested footpaths, Jade comes back to life and discovers the power of being alone.

As Jade reacclimatizes, she considers what it means to live alone. Through conversations with other hermits across the world, Fitton sheds light on the myriad - and often misunderstood - ways of living alone: from monks to hikikomori, and the largely ignored female hermit. Jade questions whether hermitic living is possible in an era of constant communication and increased housing costs as she finds herself financially unstable and itinerant. She realises that home doesn't exist within walls, but within the landscape of her childhood home county.

Lyrically written, this is an inspirational story of recovery, of finding home, and of celebrating solitude in the natural world.

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This Is How We Come Back Stronger

Feminist Book Feminist Book Society
Published on March 23, 2021 by And Other Stories Publishing

Feminist writers come together to respond to the crisis of 2020 in this unique collection of essays, interviews, and fiction.

Spring 2020. When everything changed. As life around the world retreated behind closed doors, gender inequalities and systemic racism were brought to new and shocking prominence. Womxn of all backgrounds and experiences were disproportionately affected by the crisis. Essential debate and action was, for a time, silenced. Then we re-emerged in protest and started to rethink our fight for equality.

So, what happens now?

Challenging, inspiring and fiercely optimistic, This Is How We Come Back Stronger is an intersectional feminist collection for our times. Published on the one-year anniversary of lockdown, writers from both sides of the Atlantic reflect on what matters most in these difficult days, and what the future can hold for us all.

20% of every sale will be donated to charities Women’s Aid and Imkaan in the fight to end domestic abuse and support survivors.

Featuring contributions from Amelia Abraham, Yomi Adegoke, Rosanna Amaka, Laura Bates, Fatima Bhutto, Lauren Bravo, Molly Case, Catherine Cho, Sara Collins, Melissa Cummings-Quarry and Natalie A. Carter, Juli Delgado Lopera, Lindsey Dryden, Stella Duffy, Sarah Eagle Heart, Fox Fisher, Shirley Geok-lin Lim, Mireille Cassandra Harper, Kerry Hudson, Akasha Hull, Juliet Jacques, Jude Kelly, Dorothy Koomson, Kuchenga, Helen Lederer, Francesca Martinez, Gina Miller, Jessica Moor, Kate Mosse, Jess Phillips, Layla F. Saad, Radhika Sanghani, Jenny Sealey, Shaz, Lisa Taddeo, Michelle Tea, Virgie Tovar, Sophie Williams.

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Piglet

Lottie Hazell
Published on January 25, 2024 by Transworld

Her life is so full, so why is she hungry?

‘A high-wire exploration of control, pleasure and desire’ Chloë Ashby
‘A book that tears at the surface of things to reveal the vast, messy truth of a body with a beating heart’ Catherine Newman

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For Piglet – an unshakable childhood nickname – getting married is her opportunity to reinvent. Together, Kit and Piglet are the picture of domestic bliss – effortless hosts, planning a covetable wedding ... But if a life looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Thirteen days before they are due to be married, Kit reveals an awful truth, cracking the façade Piglet has created. It has the power to strip her of the life she has so carefully built, so smugly shared. To do something about it would be to self-destruct. But what will it cost her to do nothing?

As the hours count down to their wedding, Piglet is torn between a growing appetite and the desire to follow the recipe, follow the rules. Surely, with her husband, she could be herself again. Wouldn’t it be a waste for everything to curdle now?

Piglet is the searing, unforgettable and original debut which is set to take readers by storm in 2024.

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‘It takes audacity, all kinds of courage to produce a novel as ferocious as Piglet. It made me so hungry’ Lamorna Ash

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Eat, Drink, Nap

Published on July 16, 2020 by Random House

The quintessential style, cooking, and home interior book from Soho House, the world's leading members club.

Since the first Soho House opened its doors over 25 years ago, we've learnt a bit about what works. Contemporary, global yet with something quintessentially English and homely at its heart, this is Soho House style explained by its experts:

- From planning a room to vintage finds: bringing the Soho House look home.

- Our House curator's advice on how to buy, collect and hang art.

- The art of a great night's sleep: how to design the perfect bedroom.

- No-fuss recipes and chef's tips: here's how to make your favourite House dishes.

- Inside Babington: our take on country-house living. Wellies optional.

- Flip-flop glamour and poolside style from Soho House Miami Beach.

- All the secrets of cocktail hour: House tonics and barman's tips.

- Spa treatment at home, DIY facials and chocolate brownies.

Eat Drink Nap, a 300-page highly illustrated book, with a foreword from founder Nick Jones, and photography from leading food and interiors photographers Mark Seelen and Jean Cazals, shares the Soho House blueprint for stylish, modern living, the Soho House way.
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Readers love EAT, DRINK, NAP:
'A fun and stylish guide to a better life'
'A perfect coffee table book!'
'I love it and people comment and do flick though it when they are at my home'
'Simple but elegant. . . and chocked full of beautiful pictures and wonderful information for making your house a home'

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Chatsworth

Alan Titchmarsh, Jonathan Buckley
Published on August 31, 2023 by Ebury Publishing

Discover Jane Austen's real-life inspiration for Darcy's Pemberley.

Follow Alan into Chatsworth's irresistible world of visionaries, pioneers, heroes, villains and English eccentrics, and celebrate the men and women who have shaped the history of the estate over five centuries. With his passionate knowledge of both the house and gardens, as well as his long-established relationship with the Cavendish family, Alan is the perfect guide with whom to explore the Palace of the Peaks.

Featuring stunning, specially commissioned photography of the gardens and parkland, alongside long-forgotten images and memorabilia newly unearthed in the estate archives, this vivid companion, crowded with character and colour, is a book to treasure and revisit over and over again.

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The Gardening Book

Monty Don
Published on October 26, 2023 by Ebury Publishing

A fresh approach to gardening by bestselling author and the nation's favourite gardener Monty Don.

'Think of your garden like a meal. When you select a recipe, you're choosing it based on inclination, experience and circumstance. Making a garden, big or small, uses exactly the same process.'

If you are new to gardening, it can seem daunting - with Latin names, various soil types and seasonal requirements, it feels like a lot to learn. But with Monty Don's new book as a guide you will discover just how joyful and rewarding gardening can be.

Whether you want to grow your own veg, create a child-friendly garden, connect with nature, or make the most of houseplants, Monty will help you unlock your space's potential, showing you what, where and when to plant. The Gardening Book gives you the basics to grow over 100 popular flowers, foods, shrubs, houseplants and more - each one has a clear, concise, format: what you need, timing, method, and step-by-step photos, all on one spread. It's a refreshingly accessible approach that will help you build a garden which best serves your needs and enhances your lifestyle.

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Mythos Illustrated

Stephen Fry
Published on October 19, 2023 by Penguin Books Ltd

Pre-order Mythos Illustrated.

No one loves and quarrels, desires and deceives as boldly or brilliantly as Greek gods and goddesses.

In Stephen Fry's vivid retelling, we gaze in wonder as wise Athena is born from the cracking open of the great head of Zeus and follow doomed Persephone into the dark and lonely realm of the Underworld. We shiver in fear when Pandora opens her jar of evil torments and watch with joy as the legendary love affair between Eros and Psyche unfolds.

Mythos Illustrated captures these extraordinary myths for our modern age in stunning colour - in all their dazzling and deeply human relevance.

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Mythos

Stephen Fry
Published on November 02, 2017 by Penguin Books Ltd

STEP INTO ANOTHER WORLD - OF MAGIC, MAYHEM, MONSTERS AND MANIACAL GODS - IN STEPHEN FRY'S MOMENTOUS SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, MYTHOS

Order TROY now, Stephen Fry's bewitching retelling of the most legendary story ever told

'A romp through the lives of ancient Greek gods. Fry is at his story-telling best . . . the gods will be pleased'
Times

Discover Stephen Fry's magnificent retelling of the greatest myths and legends ever told . . .

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No one loves and quarrels, desires and deceives as boldly or brilliantly as Greek gods and goddesses.

In Stephen Fry's vivid retelling, we gaze in wonder as wise Athena is born from the cracking open of the great head of Zeus and follow doomed Persephone into the dark and lonely realm of the Underworld. We shiver in fear when Pandora opens her jar of evil torments and watch with joy as the legendary love affair between Eros and Psyche unfolds.

Mythos captures these extraordinary myths for our modern age - in all their dazzling and deeply human relevance.

If you're enthralled by the magic of Greek mythology you'll love Fry's follow-up book HEROES, with tales of mortals and monsters, quests and adventures . . .

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NOW THE INSPIRATION FOR THE MYTHOS SUITE, STEPHEN FRY AND DEBBIE WISEMAN'S MUSICAL PRODUCTION OF FRY'S THRILLING RETELLINGS

'A head-spinning marathon of legends'
Guardian

'An Olympian feat. The gods seem to be smiling on Fry - his myths are definitely a hit' Evening Standard

'An odyssey through Greek mythology. Brilliant . . . all hail Stephen Fry'
Daily Mail

'A rollicking good read'
Independent

SHORTLISTED FOR A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

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Tribes and the State in Libya and Iraq

Alison Pargeter
Published on November 23, 2023 by Hurst Publishers

Regime change in Libya (2011) and Iraq (2003) catapulted a host of sub-state actors to the fore, including tribes, which have emerged as influential political, security and social actors. But despite this increased role and visibility, tribes remain poorly understood. Often mistakenly associated with the 'periphery' or with 'pre-national' or 'pre-modern' forms of political organisation, they are routinely portrayed as the antithesis of the state. Yet tribes--the Middle East's oldest, most enduring and most controversial social entities--have proved able to adapt and evolve, entering into mutually beneficial relationships with various regimes.

Based on interviews with tribal sheikhs, tribal representatives and other stakeholders, Alison Pargeter traces the role of the tribe in Libya and Iraq from the revolutionary nationalist period into the fraught transitions that followed. She reveals how tribes have succeeded in developing a presence in national and local political structures; how they have engaged and bargained with major powerbrokers; and how they have become important security providers in their own right. Contrary to modernist approaches seeking to write the obituary of the tribe, this book shows how tribes have not only survived in Libya and Iraq, but remain a key component of the state in both countries.

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Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Gabrielle Zevin
Published on July 14, 2022 by Random House

'An exquisite love letter to life' TAYARI JONES, Women's Prize-winning author of An American Marriage

This is not a romance, but it is about love

Two kids meet in a hospital gaming room in 1987. One is visiting her sister, the other is recovering from a car crash. The days and months are long there. Their love of video games becomes a shared world -- of joy, escape and fierce competition. But all too soon that time is over, fades from view.

When the pair spot each other eight years later in a crowded train station, they are catapulted back to that moment. The spark is immediate, and together they get to work on what they love - making games to delight, challenge and immerse players, finding an intimacy in digital worlds that eludes them in their real lives. Their collaborations make them superstars.

This is the story of the perfect worlds Sadie and Sam build, the imperfect world they live in, and of everything that comes after success: Money. Fame. Duplicity. Tragedy.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow takes us on a dazzling imaginative quest as it examines the nature of identity, creativity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play and, above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love.

'A gem of a novel' Erin Morgenstern

'A brilliant story about life's most challenging puzzles
' Nathan Hill, New York Times-bestselling author of The Nix

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Lessons in Chemistry

Bonnie Garmus
Published on April 05, 2022 by Transworld

'A vibrant and original story of hope and staying true to yourself. Laugh-out-loud funny and brimming with life, generosity and courage' RACHEL JOYCE

'A novel that sparks joy with every page' ELIZABETH DAY
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'Your ability to change everything - including yourself - starts here' ELIZABETH ZOTT

Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing.

But it's the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans, the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with - of all things - her mind. True chemistry results.

Like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later, Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America's most beloved cooking show, Supper at Six. Elizabeth's unusual approach to cooking ('combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride') proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn't just teaching women to cook. She's daring them to change the status quo.

Meet the unconventional, uncompromising
Elizabeth Zott.
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'I loved Lessons in Chemistry and am devastated to have finished it!'
NIGELLA LAWSON

'Elizabeth Zott is an iconic heroine - a feminist who refuses to be quashed, a mother who believes that her child is a person to behold, rather than to mould, and who will leave you, and the lens through which you see the world, quite changed'
PANDORA SYKES

'It's the world versus Elizabeth Zott, and I had no trouble choosing a side. A page-turning and highly satisfying tale: zippy, zesty, and Zotty' MAGGIE SHIPSTEAD, author of GREAT CIRCLE

STYLIST MAGAZINE'S 'FICTION BOOKS YOU CAN'T MISS IN 2022'
OBSERVER'S 'TEN DEBUT NOVELISTS OF 2022'

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