Showing results by author "Holly" in All Categories

Fifteen-year-old Londoner Fern is about to uncover a place that she could not have imagined in all her wildest dreams. Annwn is the dream mirror of our world, a place where dreamers walk in their slumber, their dreams playing out all around them. An enchanted, mysterious place that feeds our own world - as without dreams, without a place where our imaginations and minds can be nourished, what kind of humans would we be? But Annwn is a place as full of dangers as it is wonders: it is a place where dreams can kill you.

Born and raised in West Lothian, Brady pursued a career in journalism after university, though always had an interest in comedy. After reaching the final of "So You Think You're Funny" at the Edinburgh Fringe, Brady launched her stand-up career and has since appeared on panel shows. Brady knew she was autistic as a teenager, but was told she couldn't be, as she was good at making eye contact and had a boyfriend. After finally getting a diagnosis in 2021, Brady has now penned her autobiography, Strong Female Character, which details the struggles she faced growing up with autism.

Evie is overjoyed when she is given her very own puppy. Alfie adores Evie - he loves to be cuddled, sleeps on her bed and welcomes her home from school every day with a wag of his tail. But it's not long before Evie's new baby brother, Sam arrives. Suddenly no-one has much time to look after Alfie, and soon he finds himself unwanted. Left all alone, he keeps dreaming that one day Evie and her family will come to love and care for him again - but will his dream come true?

Joining us for a chat is the people's poet laureate, the punk performance poet, John Cooper Clarke, who is releasing his memoir I Wanna Be Yours. Clarke, born in Salford, is well known for his classic look of drainpipe jeans, wild black hair and sunglasses, whatever the weather, something which hasn't changed since the 1970s. Being inspired and encouraged by an English teacher at school, Clarke decided that he would make a living from poetry. He performed with many hugely successful bands, such as The Sex Pistols, Joy Division and New Order.

Roaring Girls tells the game-changing life stories of eight formidable women whose grit, determination and radical unconventionality saw them defy the odds to forge their own paths. From the notorious cross-dressing thief Mary Frith in the 17th century to rebel slave Mary Prince and adventurer, industrialist and LGBT trailblazer Anne Lister in the 19th, these diverse characters redefined what a woman could be and what she could do in pre-20th-century Britain.

From the first night they met, Rachel and Josh knew they were meant to be. When Josh makes an extraordinary decision, the future that Rachel felt so sure about seems impossible. Walking away from the love of her life is unimaginable. But with everything that's happened - and all that is to come - how can Rachel possibly stay?

Joining us at Audible Studios is British racing driver Jenson Button, who won the 2009 Formula 1 World Championship. Button began racing at the age of eight, when his dad bought him his first kart, and he entered Formula 1 in 2000. As with the career of any F1 driver, there are ups and downs due to car issues and failures, but Button was on his way up. In 2009, Button won the Formula 1 World Championship, and at every race along the way, his father was there cheering him on.

Life has always been tough for May and Gus Lavender. Their father went away to sea never to return, and then their mother falls victim to the typhus sweeping through Liverpool. Regarded as orphans by the authorities, May and Gus are sent to the Brownlow Hill Workhouse. Like all workhouses, Brownlow is the last resort for the poor and the destitute. May and Gus will have to rely on each other more than ever if they are to survive the hardships to come....

It's a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths - for good and evil - of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies.

It’s the eve of Hollywood publicist Lucy Green’s thirtieth birthday, a day she hopes will bring the promotion she deserves and a proposal from her boyfriend. But he stands her up for a date, not for the first time, leaving Lucy alone at the bar—or at least, alone with the handsome bartender on the other side of the counter—so she makes a rueful wish over her cocktail for a perfect birthday. But when Lucy’s wish is granted in the most unexpected way, things go terribly awry, as things often do when wishes come true….

Fluff is the smallest and weakest of the farm kittens, but she surprises everyone with her strength and spirit. Ella falls in love with Fluff straight away, but Ella's mother won't let her have a cat. What happens to kittens that nobody wants?

When Daisy arrives at the farm campsite where her family are spending her summer holiday, she knows she's going to have the best time ever. Especially when she finds out the farm dog has just had puppies! Daisy can't help falling in love with Barney, the smallest of the litter of German Shepherd pups. Barney takes to the friendly new girl who sneaks him food and smuggles him into her sleeping bag at night, and soon the pair are inseparable.

Joining us at Audible Studios is author, journalist and economics and politics commentator, Grace Blakeley. We’ll be chatting with Grace Blakeley about Vulture Capitalism, her latest book which exposes corporate crimes, reveals the truth of the free market and demonstrates the issues with capitalism. We’ll find out how everyday people are being forgotten while the uber-rich are benefitting, and how we, as everyday people, can take control back.

Willow Chance is a 12-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by sevens. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn’t kept her from leading a quietly happy life...until now. Suddenly Willow’s world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world. The triumph of this book is that it is not a tragedy.

Denzil Meyrick, ex-police officer and celebrated author of the best-selling DCI Daley series, joins us to discuss the release of his new and highly anticipated sixth instalment, entitled The Relentless Tide: A DCI Daley Thriller. Returning to the wonderfully dark world of Kinloch, the audiobook opens with the discovery of three female corpses which lead to the arrival of the Scottish Police’s Cold Case Unit and a race against time for Detective Daley. In this interview, we talk to Denzil about his protagonist, the evolution of the series and how he began writing.

Evie is so excited to spend her Christmas holiday in Lapland – they’re going to visit Santa, go on a reindeer sleigh ride and watch the Northern Lights. She’s even dreamed about seeing her favourite animal – the arctic fox. Evie’s parents say this is unlikely, though, as hunting has left the species endangered. But when she hears a strange whining noise in the middle of the night, she follows the sounds and discovers a little arctic fox caught in a trap. Can Evie rescue him in time?

Eleven-year-old Nicholas Vargas thinks his sucky life has been turned upside down. His developer father has remarried and moved his new wife and daughter into his home in the soon-to-be-completed Melgrove Hollow. So, not only has Nick lost his bedroom to his wacko new step-sister, Laurie (who lugs around this huge book about faeries and wishes her name was Lauranathana...C'mon! How lame is that?!), but his father actually wants him to spend time with her.

Demelza loves science - she loves it so much that she stays up late to work on her inventions. But she soon discovers she’s also inherited a distinctly unscientific skill: spectre detecting. Like her grandmother, she can summon the ghosts of the dead. When Grandma Maeve is kidnapped, Demelza and her pasty-faced best friend, Percy, must leap into action to solve the deadly mystery.

Are you who they say you are? London, 2052. An ID tag is embedded in the flesh of your neck. Your every move is tracked. Your genes tell the State nearly everything about you. Everything you were. Everything you are. Everything you will be. For Freya, Kane, and the rest of this fledgling generation, the battle to break free of their genetic horoscopes will not be without bloodshed....

Polly and Rex are delighted when the old toy dog stirs on the nursery shelf. But Skip wants to be left alone! Then Polly shows a new classmate around Penhallow, and she seems strangely drawn to the little dog, too. Could she be the friend Skip needs?