Showing results by narrator "Mir" in All Categories

A Pebble in the Throat is two stories told in unison. Aasmah Mir growing up in Glasgow - the place of her birth - and the upbringing of her mother in Pakistan a generation before. It is an emotional and thought-provoking narrative on what it is like to live in two very different cultures whilst all the time aware of racism, prejudice and stereotyping of gender from the 1960s onwards.

Capable, confident and career-driven, Ellen had her dream job and a marriage proposal from boyfriend Ross. Life was good, her future set. Until it wasn’t and everything fell apart… Whisked off to the beautiful island of Corfu to plan her sister Lacey’s big, fat Greek wedding, Ellen is hoping some time out will help clear her head and heal her heart. But letting go of her past is not going to be easy.

How do we find love? How do we sustain it? And how do we survive when we lose it Interviewing authors and experts as well as drawing on her own experience, Natasha Lunn guides us through the complexities of these three questions. The result is a book to learn from, to lose and find yourself in. The real-life love stories will leave you feeling hopeful and seen, while the insights from experts will transform the way you think about your relationships.

To celebrate my special birthday, my husband and I have returned to the beautiful Greek island village where we spent our honeymoon. As the boat pulls in to the harbor, I feel hope rise in my heart. The white houses, the blue doors, the brilliant turquoise of the sea, are just as I remember. If two weeks in this paradise won’t fix our marriage, nothing will. But then the next day a boat arrives, full of my friends and family. My grown-up children jump on to the shore, grinning and holding balloons. My husband beams at me and says, “Surprise!” I can’t believe it.

Xanthe Fox has it all: a famous, drop-dead gorgeous boyfriend, a dream career and bright future – until heartbreak sends her life into a tailspin. So when Xanthe’s Greek godmother unexpectedly leaves her a villa on the sumptuous island of Kefalonia, Xanthe jumps at the chance to put her life in London on hold and escape to the island hideaway to rethink her future. The break allows Xanthe the time to explore her passions, sift through her feelings and discover more about her estranged Greek family while renovating her godmother’s enchanting Villa Aster.

Taking one of the most politicised and misused words associated with Muslim women and Islamophobia, It’s Not About the Burqa is poised to change all that. Here are voices you won’t see represented in the national news headlines: 18 Muslim women speaking frankly about the hijab and wavering faith, about love and divorce, about feminism, queer identity, sex and the twin threats of a disapproving community and a racist country. Funny, warm, sometimes sad and often angry, each of these essays is a passionate declaration.

As the ash and chaos from Mount Rainier’s eruption swirled and finally settled, the story of the Greenloop massacre has passed unnoticed, unexamined...until now. But the journals of resident Kate Holland, recovered from the town’s bloody wreckage, capture a tale too harrowing - and too earth-shattering in its implications - to be forgotten. Here, Max Brooks brings Kate’s extraordinary account to light for the first time, faithfully reproducing her words alongside his own extensive investigations into the massacre and the legendary beasts behind it.

Do you have any idea what the people you know are capable of? Best-selling author of All My Lies Are True, Dorothy Koomson, asks how well you can really know your neighbours.

It was supposed to be a holiday of a lifetime. But when Jen’s boyfriend David suddenly cancels their romantic Paris trip, needing to urgently travel to Athens for work, it’s best friend Bonnie who suggests they surprise him. Having already booked the time off from her events company – Christmas Every Day – Jen decides an impromptu and romantic gesture might be just what their relationship needs. Arriving in Greece and finding David is not there, Jen has a lot of questions. And when she gets her answers she has a choice – should she go home or should she stay a while?

As the face of the NBA's new world order, Giannis Antetokounmpo has overcome unfathomable obstacles to become a symbol of hope for people all over the world, the personification of the American Dream. But his backstory remains largely untold, and Fader unearths new information about the childhood that shaped "The Greek Freak"—from sleeping side by side with his brothers to selling trinkets on the side of the street with his family to the racism he experienced in Greece.

Things aren’t going well for travel writer Orla Bradbee. With Christmas fast approaching, her boss is insisting Orla must travel to a rural village in France to interview a man who doesn’t speak. But with trouble at home – her teenage sister Erin is in a ‘situationship’ with a man online – Orla’s only plan is to take Erin with her. Get the interview done, find out more about this online Romeo and still be back in time for Christmas dinner. Easy, right?

When singer Cara is invited to a big, fat Greek wedding in Corfu, she sees it as a mixed blessing: some time to heal on the beautiful Greek island with her aunt will be a tonic, but it’s going to stir up memories – of before Seb ghosted her and disappeared off the face of the earth. Akis Diakos, brother of the groom, should be looking forward to planning the bachelor party, but burdened by the weight of family expectation, his mind is elsewhere: he has a decision to make – one that could, apparently, ruin his little brother’s life forever.

For twenty-one-year-old Belle Madden her first holiday to Ibiza with best friends Gem and Laurie was memorable for all the right reasons: partying the night away, planning a future filled with big dreams and making a promise to return in ten years to celebrate living their best lives – hopefully…Fast forward a decade and Belle is desperate for a change. Eager to escape her relationship troubles, she jumps at a job opportunity that takes her back to the White Isle.

Romily Parker is a woman on a mission. On the last Saturday before Christmas, (shortly after disastrously declaring her undying love for her best friend, Charlie) Romily has a sudden, brief encounter with a gorgeous stranger who might, just possibly, be the man of her dreams. It only takes two small words – ‘Hello, beautiful’ – and one, heart-stopping kiss to make up her mind – she has to find him again. Giving herself a deadline of the following Christmas Eve, Romily commits to spending a year searching for the stranger – a decision that divides her family and friends.

1939. Bess Dudley's life is filled with possibility. As the daughter of the groom at historic Foxden Hall, she has worked hard to secure a sought-after teaching position in London. Then, on a visit home for the holidays, Bess reconnects with handsome and aristocratic James Foxden, whom she has loved since childhood. There’s a new spark between them and Bess travels to London with James’s card and joy in her heart.

Ava and her best friend Debs arrive in Paris just as the snow starts to fall. The Eiffel Tower glitters gold, but all Ava can think about is Leo, her no-good, cheating ex. Debs is on a mission to make Ava smile again, and as they tour the Christmas markets, and eat their body weight in pain-au-chocolat, Ava remembers there’s more to life than men... Until they cross paths with sizzling hot, oh-so-mysterious photographer Julien, with his French accent and hazelnut eyes that seem to see right inside her.

Beautifully simple age-old rituals for modern-day living that will enhance your well-being and give you back your zest for life. Prajña is the Sanskrit word for wisdom. Ayurveda is one of the world's oldest healing systems, rooted in the principle of a mind-body-spirit connection. Ayurveda comes from the Sanskrit words 'ayur' and 'veda', respectively 'life' and 'knowledge', meaning 'knowledge of life'. This book dips into this ancient knowledge base, extracts the essence of this Indian philosophy and revives a wealth of timeless rituals.

Stelios realised he had made a huge mistake by keeping his family and friends separate, never letting them mix together, but now he was very poorly it was time to put things right. Lawyer Joanna Bouras has been given the task of handing over the keys to seven newly built apartments on the beautiful Greek island of Vekianos. What happens when Stelios' daughters Lena and Callisto meet for the first time and how will their aunt Fotini react to them arriving back on Vekianos?

Cyprus in the run up to the civil war of the 1970s...the threat of it hangs in the atmosphere like a fine mist. A terrible thing, war. Against this backdrop of war and violence, the island's inhabitants make the best they can of their lives, building friendships, falling in love, having children, watching people die, making mistakes. Maria Petrakis, however, flees a brutal marriage on the island where she has always lived for London and a new start.