Showing results by author "A. Carpenter" in All Categories

The comprehensive collection of letters spanning the adult life of one of the world’s greatest storytellers, now revised and expanded to include more than 150 previously unseen letters, with revealing new insights into The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. J.R.R. Tolkien...

I don’t attract bad boys. No, I attract bad men. My relationship with the last one left me with no choice but to abandon everything I knew to escape his abuse, only for me to collide into someone just as dangerous, if not more so. I'm in a new city where no one knows my name. All I’m looking for is a job, but when I go to an interview with the hopes of becoming a sales associate, I find myself in the midst of a jewelry heist that turns deadly.

There’s only one rule in the world I come from. Keep our existence a secret. Period. The day my sister broke that rule one too many times, I knew there would be consequences. I expected us to be sent to one of those schools for “troubled” kids - and maybe Daizlei Academy was, in a way. But really, it was far more complicated than that. You see, I thought that world had forgotten me. Forgotten us. For years we were left alone, and one day...we weren’t. It was only when I got there that I remembered the second rule: Trust no one.

Brittany Spencer and Francis DeWitt are both detectives with the West Ridge Police Department. That is where their similarities end. Spencer works homicide and she knows she is good at her job. She sees strange, grotesque things all the time and it hardly makes her bat an eye anymore. But one cold morning, a file comes across her desk that she is sure she was never meant to see. DeWitt is a mess. He lives multiple lies trying to get by in a city where people like him are bottom of the food chain – but nobody at the precinct gets to know that.

We've all heard the story of the Four Horsemen. Harbingers of the apocalypse. Destruction given form. Four of the sexiest—wait no—forget that. You get my point. So imagine my surprise when I find out everything I've ever been told, is a lie. But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. Let's start from the beginning. My name is Ruby Morningstar. I run a tattoo parlor in Portland with my best friend, have a pet raccoon, a crazy ex that stalks me, not to mention this one little thing… I'm a demon. Half-succubus, to be exact.

Thirteenth-century Bohemia is a dangerous place for a girl, especially one as odd as Mouse, born with unnatural senses and an uncanny intellect. Some call her a witch. Others call her an angel. Even Mouse doesn't know who - or what - she is. But she means to find out. When young King Ottakar shows up at the Abbey wounded by a traitor's arrow, Mouse breaks church law to save him and then agrees to accompany him back to Prague as his personal healer.

Household names nominate leaders from the past for BBC Radio 4's Great Lives Since its inception in 2001, Great Lives has been one of Radio 4's most popular programmes, presented by Joan Bakewell, Humphrey Carpenter, Francine Stock and Matthew Parris. The format is simple, but compelling: each...

Inspired as a boy by the multiple meanings to be found for a single word in the dictionary, Kohei Araki is devoted to the notion that a dictionary is a boat to carry us across the sea of words. But after thirty-seven years creating them at Gembu Books, it's time for him to retire and find his replacement. He discovers a kindred spirit in Mitsuya Majime - a young, disheveled square peg with a penchant for collecting antiquarian books and a background in linguistics - whom he swipes from his company's sales department.

During the 1930s at Oxford, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams - remarkable friends, writers, and scholars - met regularly to discuss philosophy and literature and to read aloud from their own works in progress. Calling themselves the Inklings, their circle grew. It was in this company that such classics as The Lord of the Rings, The Screwtape Letters, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe first found an audience.

'Fabulous... What a ghost story! A ripping read.' IAIN SINCLAIR, author of London Orbital 'Vividly celebrates Bowie as not just a chameleonic visionary, but a nomadic one, a creature informed by place and circumstance" STUART MACONIE 'Bowieland will make you want to take your very own pilgrimage...

The Devil's Bible. Once considered an eighth wonder of the world, the ancient book is shrouded in mystery. No one knows who wrote it or where it was written. Even dry-boned scholars whisper about the secrets hidden in the book: how it calls to the power-hungry. How it drives people mad. How it was written in the shadows by the hand of the devil himself. But no one knows the truth - no one except Mouse.

My captor, my enemy, and my fated mate. I’m the best bounty hunter in the business. I find lost artifacts that people would kill to possess. I’m also broke. When a notorious leprechaun offers me a job I can’t refuse, I realize too late I’m not hunting an object. The contract was simple; steal the prince, escape unseen. Spoiler alert: I failed. Horribly. The moment I step into the fae kingdom beyond the veil, I feel it—someone watching me. Waiting for me.

Don't get me wrong, waking up to discover my ex-husband finally killed me wasn't fun. Finding out I had to get a job and pay Afterlife taxes about 10 minutes later? Let's just say, this wasn't exactly the eternal reward I was hoping for. But beggars can't be choosers, and being a demon sure as hell beats my last occupation. I’m well on my way to retirement behind the pearly gates when the impossible happens. The Risk Witches have a vision.

We’ve all heard the story of the Four Horsemen. Harbingers of the apocalypse. Destruction given form. Four of the sexiest—wait no—forget that. You get my point. So imagine my surprise when I find out everything I’ve ever been told, is a lie. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. Let’s start from the beginning. My name is Ruby Morningstar. I run a tattoo parlor in Portland with my banshee bestfriend, have a pet raccoon, a crazy ex that stalks me, not to mention this one little thing… I’m a demon. Half-succubus, to be exact.

In this fifth edition of Work the System, Carpenter reveals the profound insight and exact uncomplicated, mechanical steps he took to turn his business—and life—around. Once you "get" this new vision, success and serenity will come quickly.

This is NOT your typical weight loss book. Weight loss books have historically been rife with misinformation. A conveyor belt of diet books pretending to have the latest revolutionary weight loss "hacks", trying to grab your attention with whatever weight loss diet is trending.

Yuki Hirano is just out of high school when his parents enroll him, against his will, in a forestry training program in the remote mountain village of Kamusari. No phone, no internet, no shopping. Just a small, inviting community where the most common expression is “take it easy.” At first, Yuki is exhausted, fumbles with the tools, asks silly questions, and feels like an outcast. Kamusari is the last place a city boy from Yokohama wants to spend a year of his life. But as resistant as he might be, the scent of the cedars and the staggering beauty of the region have a pull.

Being a supernatural bounty hunter isn’t exactly a popular job. But after the magic wars, there aren’t many things a human can do that will put food on the table. Thankfully anything my right hook can’t handle, my guns can.

Famous fans choose their favourite writers for BBC Radio 4's Great Lives. For 20 years, Great Lives has been a cornerstone of the Radio 4 schedules, presented by Joan Bakewell, Humphrey Carpenter, Francine Stock and Matthew Parris. Each week, a well-known personality is invited to select someone who has inspired them. They then discuss the 'Great Life' with the presenter and a guest expert to decide whether their hero really merits the accolade. 

For a decade, I’ve hated the supernaturals who owned my world. I hunted them. I killed them. And now, in the most grand twist of fate - I am bonded to one of them. Oh, the irony. Being a supernatural bounty hunter isn’t exactly a popular job. But after the magic wars, there aren’t many things a human can do that will put food on the table. Thankfully, anything my right hook can’t handle, my guns can. Or so I thought.