Enter the dark side of discover the monsters, witches, and nightmarish traditions behind one of the most celebrated holidays in the world When we imagine the origins of Christmas, we picture halcyon images of mangers, glowing fireplaces, and snow-blanketed winter hills. But the holiday is celebrated during the darkest time of year in the Northern Hemisphere—a season so dark it has given rise to the most outlandish traditions imaginable. In The Dead of Winter, Oxford-trained historian Sarah Clegg delves deep into the folkloric roots of Christmas in Europe, comparing their often-horrific past to the way they continue to haunt and entertain us now in the 21st century. Detailing the hideous masks and curling horns of "Krampus runs" in Austria, the fearsome horseheads of "hoodenings" in Southeast England, and the candle-crowned young witches of Finland's St. Lucy Festival, the author captures the wild revelry at heart of the winter madness.   In Clegg’s fascinating investigation, these strange, wonderful traditions are cast in their illuminating historical context. And the closer we get to the dark magic and bright enchantment described in The Dead of Winter, the more we start to see how fun it might be to let just a bit of the ancient darkness in.

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON MUSIC AND THE ORGANISED MINDMusic insinuates itself into our earliest memories; it is intimately connected to our emotional regulation and cognition; its shared rhythms and sounds are essential to our social behaviours. That is why we can remember songs word for word years later, or why certain music has the power to uplift us almost instantly. Music is more than a vehicle for entertainment and it's also a powerful tool for lifelong health.In Music and Medicine, bestselling author and neuroscientist Daniel Levitin delves into the latest research on the interaction of music, mood, health, and the biology of our brain. In it, he explains how music can lead to lasting improvements in our brain and body, increasing brain function and connectivity, boosting neuroplasticity and even strengthening our immune system. From promoting relaxation when we're stressed and supporting stroke victims to recover the ability to walk, improving memory for those suffering with Alzheimers’ Disease and helping manage chronic pain, music has an extraordinary therapeutic potential that is yet to be fully realised.A work of dazzling ideas, cutting-edge research, and joyful celebration of the human mind, Music as Medicine will explain to you what we know, and how we can harness music to heal – helping us look forward and reimagine our lives.

In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place. Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.

Life-affirming interviews with young trans people who share their empowering experiences of questioning and exploring gender. "I believe that children who are questioning and exploring their gender are the gender bosses that we all so desperately need. I believe that they are our future." In this life-affirming, heartening and refreshing collection of interviews, young trans people offer valuable insight and advice into what has helped them to flourish and feel happy in their experience of growing up trans.

An extraordinary, gloriously uplifting novel about the power of friendship and the puzzling ties that bind us Clayton Stumper might be twenty-six years old, but he dresses like your grandpa and drinks sherry like your aunt. Abandoned at birth on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, he was raised by a group of eccentric enigmatologists and now finds himself among the last survivors of a fading institution. When the esteemed crossword compiler and main maternal presence in Clayton's life, Pippa Allsbrook, passes away, she bestows her final puzzle on him: a promise to reveal the mystery of his parentage and prepare him for life beyond the walls of the commune. As Clay begins to unpick the clues, he uncovers something even the Fellowship have never been able to solve—and it's a secret that has the potential to change everything.

Dans Les Trois Mousquetaires revit toute l'Histoire : le Moyen Âge parce que c'est une épopée chevaleresque ; le XVIIe siècle dominé par Richelieu fondateur de la France moderne ; le romantisme parce que des héros exceptionnels, qui ont disparu d'une société contemporaine dépoétisée, se réfugient dans le roman. L'auteur y a mis tout son art : la surprise, la vitesse, l'humour, la couleur, le sens du mystère et de la grandeur. Le lecteur se sent un instant aventureux comme d'Artagnan, séducteur comme Aramis, hercule comme Porthos, profond comme Athos, poète comme Dumas.

The year is 1327. Franciscans in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate. When his delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths, Brother William turns to the logic of Aristotle, the theology of Aquinas, and the empirical insights of Roger Bacon to find the killer. He collects evidence, deciphers secret symbols and coded manuscripts, and digs into the eerie labyrinth of the abbey (“where the most interesting things happen at night”) armed with a wry sense of humor and a ferocious curiosity.