Katie had never been in a sea kayak, but when her brother Toby died in the middle of his challenge to paddle in every area of the Shipping Forecast, she decided to honour his memory by completing his adventure. On a journey that takes her from the monotonies of motherhood in urban Barcelona to the far reaches of the Shipping Forecast through the wilds of the British Isles, Katie is forced to face her past and question her present, exploring the loss of her family members as well as her own identity. After two years of inelegant paddling and potentially worse parenting, can she complete the challenge?

Thundery at Times is not a story of battling high seas or completing daring tasks, but one of making your own rules and living life to the full. It is about finding joy and hope in nature, motherhood and middle age, in nurturing your own adventures and embracing connection and peace. It is a story of female resilience in the face of adversity; of staring down grief and asking, what’s possible from here?

As seen on the BBC Travel Show.

In a small market town in the northeast of England in 1825, something momentous happened: ticket-bearing human beings started moving along wrought-iron tracks on a contraption with engine-powered wheels. The contraption was called a “train”. What happened in Darlington, along a 26-mile line to Stockton, would kickstart the worldwide railway revolution. Today, 1.3 million miles of tracks crisscross the planet.

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of this groundbreaking event, Tom Chesshyre embarks on a journey around the country that invented trains, taking in many heritage lines maintained by armies of enthusiasts. On a long, circular series of rides beginning and ending in Darlington, Chesshyre enjoys the scenery, seeks out the history, dodges delays (as best he can), reports on the current (often shambolic) state of British railways, and lets the rhythm of the clattering tracks reveal what it is about trains – especially wonderful old trains – that we love so much.

Why do people love trains so much?

Tom Chesshyre is on a mission to find the answer by experiencing the world through train travel – on both epic and everyday rail routes, aboard every type of ride, from steam locomotives to bullet trains, meeting a cast of memorable characters who share a passion for train travel.

Join him on the rails and off the beaten track as he embarks on an exhilarating whistle-stop tour around the globe, on journeys on celebrated trains and railways including:

– India’s famed toy train
– Sri Lanka’s Reunification Express
– The Indian Pacific across the Australian outback
– The Shanghai maglev
– And the picturesque rail journeys of the Scottish Highlands

Plus trains through Kosovo, North Macedonia, Turkey, Iran, Finland, Russia, America and France, with short interludes in North Korea, Italy, Poland, Peru, Switzerland, England and Lithuania. All aboard!

With a twinkle in his eye and a spring in his step, Fred Basset is back again! Bound into this yearbook and join Fred and his friends on a whole new collection of lively adventures and light-hearted mischief, all brimming with Fred’s signature wit and charm.

Fred Basset first sauntered onto the pages of the Daily Mail in July 1963, and over more than half a century he has made himself a household name with readers all over the world. Nearly six decades after his debut, Fred and his friends continue to delight and entertain us with their trademark mix of wholesome humour, wry wit and shrewd observation. Their familiar faces and new adventures offer readers a source of comfort, contentment and amusement in our increasingly hectic, fast-paced world.

This is classic Fred Basset, and an essential read for all fans.

Who was the deadliest sniper of the war?
How low did the Dambusters fly?
How many ships were sunk at Pearl Harbor?

Telling the stories of the Battle of Britain, the Siege of Leningrad, the horrors of the Holocaust, the D-Day landings and the other battles, campaigns, aircraft, weapons, soldiers and heroes on the Home Front and abroad, this is a compelling guide to one of the most destructive and all-encompassing wars the world has ever seen.

What would happen if you got on a bike in central London and didn’t stop riding until you hit the Welsh coast? Steve Silk, the best-selling author of The Great North Road, provides the answer over eight days, 300 miles and rather a lot of hills

Admittedly, he doesn’t take the direct route. Country lanes replace dual carriageways, castles and museums are preferred to service stations and there’s even a day-long diversion down the River Wye by canoe.

But seen from the saddle, he gets a much more intimate view of historic towns and cities like Oxford, Gloucester, Monmouth and Carmarthen, as well as the spectacular scenery in between. After all, which other direction out of London can offer three areas of outstanding natural beauty and two national parks in such short order?

Join Steve as he rides solo across England before being joined by three of his cycling buddies for the tougher terrain of Wales. Enriched with legends, humour and tales of friendship, Go West is a must for anyone who has dreamt of a cycling adventure.

From London via Paris, Naples, Nuremberg, the Swiss Alps, Budapest, Athens and into the furthest corners of Eastern Europe across Romania and Bulgaria, join Tom Chesshyre on his fascinating journey to Istanbul and back

Ever dreamt of dropping everything and adventuring cross-country to the edge of Asia? That’s just what rail enthusiast Tom Chesshyre did, hitting the tracks for a 4,570-mile adventure on 55 rides, shadowing the old Orient Express route.

Interrailing was once the realm of young backpackers setting off to “find themselves” – and for many, it still is. But it’s also a joyful and eco-friendly twenty-first century adventure that’s open to us all, no matter our age or agenda. Dodging striking train drivers in Germany, getting stuck by the Bulgarian-Greek border, and negotiating tricky passport officials in Turkey is all part of the fun in this illuminating and meandering journey around Europe.

Europe by rail awaits. The freedom of the lines awaits. Why not hop on board?

Attention all retirees! This book is the essential guide to navigating life beyond the nine-to-five. Your freedom begins here and you’re going to need all the advice you can get on how to while away the hours, make cool new friends, and avoid total boredom!

Retirement is an exciting time, but you probably have a lot of questions too. For instance, how long can I lie in bed before I’m officially classed as lazy, and what the heck do I do with all my free time now? Whatever questions you might have, this book is the ticket to a remarkably good retirement.

Charmingly illustrated by Ian Baker, How to Survive Retirement is packed with tongue-in-cheek advice that will have you chuckling from page to page. So, wherever your retired years lead you, this book is your reminder to laugh, embrace your new life, and enjoy the ride!

A real-life journey through the fantastical world of The Odyssey

It started with a boy, of course. Seeking solace from the pain of heartbreak and her father’s illness, Laura Coffey embarks on what was meant to be a simple holiday. But her newfound fascination with ancient Greek myths transforms her trip into a six-month odyssey, around tiny archipelagos and mystical Mediterranean islands thought to be the setting of Odysseus’s epic journey. As she chases one of the most conflicted, flawed and yet beloved heroes through his fantastical sea-kingdoms, looking for the places where geography and mythology collide, she discovers the wild beauty of the islands, and the redemptive powers of travel and nature, cold-water swimming, long hikes up mountains, and luminous star-lit skies.

But her quest to find happiness, safety and the true meaning of home is overshadowed by the deepening illness of her father. Returning as he’s dying, forced to confront the very things she was running from, Laura reflects on what she has lost, how to live between story and reality, and the way we craft our own mythologies. Slipping between the mythical realm and the real world, she finds enchantment and healing in the magic of both.

“If you love memoir and Greek mythology, this is a delight. A spellbinding book about growing up, grieving and the gods.” – Clare Pollard, author of Delphi