Marcus Atkinson is a super swimmer (not!). But his dad is convinced that Marcus has magic in his arms and legs. Marcus is a maths whiz who is not good at sport. His dad is a self-help author who thinks Marcus can achieve anything he sets his mind to, with hilarious results. In illustrated diary format, Marcus's gentle, satiric humour and comic drawings will have readers laughing out loud while learning a surprising amount about sport.
From the author of The Savage God, a unique memoir of growing old, and a lesson in not going gently into that good night The ponds of Hampstead Heath are small oases; fragments of wild nature nestled in the heart of north-west London. For the best part of his life Al Alvarez – poet, critic, novelist, rock-climber and poker player – has swum in them almost daily. An athlete in his youth, Alvarez chronicles what it is to grow old with humour and fierce honesty – from his relentlessly nagging ankle which makes daily life a struggle, to infuriating bureaucratic battles with the council to keep his disabled person's Blue Badge, the devastating effects of a stroke, and the salvation he finds in the three Ss – Swimming, Sex and Sleep. As Alvarez swims in the ponds he considers how it feels when you begin to miss that person you used to be – to miss yourself. Swimming is his own private form of protest against the onslaught of time; proof to others, and himself, that he's not yet beaten. By turns funny, poetic and indignant, Pondlife is a meditation on love, the importance of life's small pleasures and, above all, a lesson in not going gently in to that good night. _____________________ 'A beautiful unfolding of a story, told in deceptively simple prose but with a great power to move' Sunday Times 'The adrenalin still flows in lively extracts' The Times 'A marvellous book... it has no business to be as invigorating and absorbing – its success is against the odds' Observer
Marcus Atkinson is a cricket god (not!). But his dad is convinced that Marcus has magic in his wrists. Marcus is a Maths whiz who is not good at sport. His dad is a self-help author who thinks Marcus can achieve anything he sets his mind to, with hilarious results. In illustrated diary format, Marcus's gentle, satiric humour and comic drawings will have readers laughing out loud while learning a surprising amount about cricket. Praise for Diary of a Soccer Star: 'Shamini scores a goal with every page!' Timothy Richards, aged 9
About the Book Grandpa Speaks: A Time Lapse Diary was written by an elder, first-time Grandpa. In time lapse form, this diary relates facts, feelings, and often emotions in a way that one might hear from a close friend or relative over the phone, in a letter, or on a postcard. It may have multiple entries in a day, days in a row, or a week or two with nothing. Then, like with a best friend for life, the entries just pick up as though no span of time in the conversation has passed. It looks back, paints the present, and hints at the future through imagination. About the Author J.M. Loyd is just a guy from Arkansas who grew up in a small town in the central part of the state. A town with three colleges and a fine ditch. I split my young time between them. I was fortunate to attend school at the teacher’s college from nursery school through the fifth grade. It was quite an experience to be the guinea pig for the aspiring teachers standing in the hall behind the two-way mirrors. I swam on championship teams for high school and two of the colleges. Achieved first chair trumpet in the school band, was a member of three rock bands, lead singer in two. Stage actor, set designer and finder. I met my wife and put all of that away for our family. We worked together daily and raised our son. We married for keeps. We had stores in the footwear and fashion industry and helped her family run the summer camp for children at our homeplace. I was named “Captain”. The name stuck. I led adventures groups, was the camp deejay, announcer, song leader and counsellor. I am a licensed pilot, HAM, scuba diver, sailor, boater, builder, biker, herpetologist, gardener, fisherman, weatherman, salesman, locksmith, musician and lifeguard, mostly retired. But, most importantly, a late in life Grandpa, with a lot to share.
In Almost a Swimmer, Shray Rai Tiwari chronicles the journey of his life as a swimmer. It is a first-hand account of an athlete who chose one dream over another. But the twist is, he never let that other dream go, he still holds that dream close to his heart. Almost a Swimmer is a story of anyone who was an ‘almost something’. Our life is the result of the choices that we make, and those choices are never easy. From what made him a swimmer to what made him almost a swimmer, this book will make you want to go back to your passion and give it another try.
A wonderfully written and engaging teenage memoir: read all about Jacqueline's problems with her family, her first love, her school life and her friends. Read extracts from her real diaries and the stories she wrote as a teenager; learn all about the music and books she loved, her troubled school life and her parents' difficult relationship. Written in Jacqueline's usual and inimitable style, this will be fascinating reading for her fans, and for anyone who's interested in what life in the UK was like in the fifties and sixties.
