Showing results by narrator "Nicholas Bell" in All Categories

In this simple, beautifully written book, David Michie opens the door to the core teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. With wry, self-deprecating humour, he shows us how he began to incorporate Buddhist practices into his daily life. He explains how he came to understand the difference between the temporary pleasures of ordinary life, and the profound sense of well-being and heart-felt serenity that comes from connecting with our inner nature.

Aside from love, few actvities seem to promise us as much happiness as going traveling: taking off for somewhere else, somewhere far from home, a place with more interesting weather, customs, and landscapes. But although we are inundated with advice on where to travel, few people seem to talk about why we should go and how we can become more fulfilled by doing so.

Ed is having a hard time - at work, in his love life and, well, generally. Then he meets an unlikely Buddhist - who drinks and smokes and talks his kind of language. Bit by bit, things begin to change...Ed doesn't always take Geoff's advice. Or, when he does he lapses at the crucial moment. His path to understanding is not a straight one, especially as life keeps throwing more and more 'stuff' at him.

For anyone who ever wondered what Marcel Proust had in mind when he wrote the one-and-a-quarter-million words of In Search of Lost Time (while bedridden no less), Alain de Botton has the answer. For, in this stylish, erudite and frequently hilarious book, de Botton dips deeply into Proust’s life and work - his fiction, letter, and conversations – and distils from them that rare self-help manual: one that is actually helpful.

They were young, they were Australian, they were Army engineers and they were the first allied soldiers to risk their lives in the darkness of the Vietcong tunnels of South Vietnam. Staring death squarely in the face every day, not only did they follow their enemy down into these unknown underground labyrinths, but matched the Vietcong’s jungle warfare skills and defused thousands of their clever booby traps. Off duty, it was a different story....

In the years following the death of Jesus Christ, John the Apostle, now a frail, blind old man, lives in forced exile on the desolate island of Patmos with a small group of his disciples. It is against this turbulent background and inspired by Jesus's radical message of love and forgiveness that John comes to dictate his Gospel.

Stress is a constant presence in our everyday lives - more than ever before, we're working harder, juggling more responsibilies and taking less time for ourselves. David Michie, the bestselling author of Buddhism for Busy People, offers a series of meditations designed to take those moments in life that seem unbearably stressful, and gives you the calmness and peace of mind to take control of the situation, and of yourself.

In his thought-provoking and entertaining book, David Michie explains the nuts and bolts of meditation. As a busy professional, as well as long-term meditator, he also gives a first-hand account of how to integrate this transformational practice into everyday life. Combining leading edge science with timeless wisdom, Hurry Up and Meditate provides all the motivation and tools you need to achieve greater balance, better health and a more panoramic perspective on life.

In 1787 Lieutenant Thomas Rooke sets sail from Portsmouth with the First Fleet and its cargo of convicts, destined for New South Wales. As a young officer and a man of science, the shy and quiet Rooke is full of anticipation about the natural wonders he might discover in this strange land on the other side of the world. After the fleet arrives in Port Jackson, Rooke sets up camp on a rocky and isolated point, and starts his work of astronomy and navigation.

In Enlightenment to Go, David Michie provides a lively and accessible guide to ‘the best of’ Shantideva. Sharing his enthusiasm for Shantideva’s radical insights, life-changing psychological tools and transcendent wisdom, he draws on a wide variety of scientific sources – from mindfulness training to cognitive behaviour therapy, from neuropsychology to quantum physics – to show how Shantideva’s Guide is as relevant as ever.

If meditation was available in capsule form, it would be the biggest selling drug of all time. It has been scientifically proven to deliver highly effective stress relief, boost our immune systems and dramatically slow the aging process. It has also been shown to make us much happier and more effective thinkers.

One winter's afternoon, Stephen Foster walks into a dog re-homing center with the intention of picking up a retired greyhound. Instead, he acquires an abandoned lurcher pup. Foster's knowledge of dogs is so vague that he has to look up 'lurcher' in key reference work One winter's afternoon, Stephen Foster walks into a dog re-homing center with the intention of picking up a retired greyhound. Instead, he acquires an abandoned lurcher pup. Foster's knowledge of dogs is so vague that he has to look up 'lurcher' in key reference work The Giant Book of the Dog.

Life was going well for psychologist Alexandra Blake. Her career has taken off and she has been exploring her darkest sexual fantasies with her lover Jeremy Quinn. But her bliss is rudely interrupted when she is abducted in London, caught up in a dangerous struggle between unscrupulous corporations. Her captors want her to help them with their sexual experiments – pushing the boundaries of convention in the search for a drug to stimulate the female libido. But at what cost? How far will Alexandra be willing to go to satisfy her curiosity, both professional and personal?

When there is a violent murder at a historic Home Counties golf club, Superintendent John Lambert himself discovers the crime. For the first time in a long career, he finds himself conducting a murder inquiry among people he knows well. The victim is the chairman of the golf club and a prominent local businessman, and it is soon clear that the members of the Club Committee are the chief suspects. They are all prominent members of the local community, and Lambert is saddled with a Chief Constable who is uncomfortably aware of the fact.

The world is full of problems and conflicts. So why can we not solve them? According to Edward de Bono, world thinking cannot solve world problems because world thinking is itself the problem. And this is getting worse: we are so accustomed to readily available information online that we search immediately for the answers rather than thinking about them. Our minds function like trying to drive a car using only one wheel.

Thousands of depressed little towns dot the vast plain where Cristiano Zena lives with his hard-drinking father, Rino. Unfocused urban sprawl with no centre to look to and nothing to look forward to. Rino Zena and his cronies, Danilo and Quattro Formaggi, are planning a ram raid on an ATM, using a converted tractor. The wary, adoring Cristiano sits in on their meetings, watching their half-baked plans unravel, and thinks about the unattainable Fabiana Ponticelli. He has no idea that something very, very bad is about to happen.

Two's a Crowd When You've Been Top Dog. In this riotously funny book, Stephen Foster picks up where Walking Ollie left off. Instead of one difficult dog, he's got two. Where Ollie sees a threat, Dylan sees a challenge - and Foster finds himself forever somewhere in the middle, trying to work out why they can't just all be friends.

They were never an obvious group of friends. Julian came from the most staid of county families. Jake's passage from unassuming suburbia to the dreaming spires of Oxford happened only by chance, and at great cost. And Adrienne, daughter of one of New York's wealthiest and most glamorous families, grew up more used to appearances in Vogue than to Oxford's cold and dusty lecture halls. When the three of them arrive at university, it is Julian's sister, Maggie, who brings them together.

Alexandra has returned to the world after her captivity and is left with a heady mix of emotions. Strangely empowered, her feelings of pleasure and exhilaration are tinged with fear, but now she must reconcile the decisions of her past and how they may determine her future. Alexandra knows it is she alone who holds the key to the answers so desperately sought by both her lover, Jeremy Quinn, and her captors.

John Anselm's a former Beirut hostage; a war correspondent who went to one war too many. A burnt-out case, he's working for a semi-legal Hamburg surveillance firm and trying to come to terms with his past. Then, into his life comes Con Niemand, ex-mercenary and professional survivor. Niemand has stumbled across evidence of a terrible secret and now he's on the run. Against his will, Anselm is plunged into a world of violence, betrayal and death.