Since I was old enough to move my bedroom furniture around I was profoundly aware that my environment was as important to my wellbeing as food, sleep and exercise. It was the invisible hand that shaped my behaviour. I went on to study architecture and my first proper job was as Editor in Chief of ELLE Decoration magazine. As such I’ve seen inside thousands of homes and my passion is based on proof. I know this stuff makes a difference because I’ve healed myself through my home. And today, what I knew intuitively is now backed by science. Better homes mean better health.
Abigail is a genuinely unique voice in the interiors world. Fearless, provocative, opinionated, I love her. Her personal style of maximalist dark drama might not be for everyone but the principles behind her thinking—self-expression, optimism, experimentation—absolutely are. You will not fail to be inspired. She’s also as passionate as I am for the creation of homes that are full of texture, pattern, old and new, layering and mood-making lighting. In short, homes that you’ll never want to leave.
Welcome to the 'more is more' world of decorating, or as it's more commonly know in the business, Maximalism.
A style that embraces the all-out: beautiful colour palettes, luxurious textiles, patterns and embellishment. Maximalism is the epitome of passion, one in which Scandi-style, stripped bare and pared-back interiors have no place. Abigail Ahern guides us through the sea change in the world of interiors as the pendulum swings away from minimalism, over to our increasing desire for self-expression and optimism. Learn how to break the 'rules' of interior design, play fast and loose with different periods in a single room…
Noel has over 15 years of experience in the hospitality sector and opened Three Sheets with his brother Max in 2016 to critical acclaim. Specialising in cocktails, the bar has a focus on simple, elegant serves that put the customer first. We were voted as the UK’s best bar at the Class Awards 2019. Three Sheets has also been listed in the World's 50 Best Bars list, rising to number 16. Three Sheets is currently Timeout London's Best Bar.
The Schofield brothers have a combined pedigree that is hard to match having worked in some of the world’s best bars over the past 10-15 years.
Their book is an amazing collection of over 100 classic cocktails brought into the 21st century with contemporary ingredients, finest techniques, and great recommendations of spirits, ice, and garnishes for each cocktail in the book. A must-read for someone looking to delve into classic cocktails.
Shortlisted for the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drinks Awards 2020
'Joe Schofield is rightly known as one of the most creative bartenders of his generation, worldwide.' - Phillip Duff - Director of Education Tales of The Cocktail
'Daniel Schofield has received worldwide recognition amongst his peers whilst working in many cities in Europe, including Paris and London. He is now based in his home city of Manchester with the future holding many exciting projects.'
Internationally renowned bartenders Joe and Daniel Schofield have worked at the some of the best bars in the world, from the American Bar at The…
Noel has over 15 years of experience in the hospitality sector and opened Three Sheets with his brother Max in 2016 to critical acclaim. Specialising in cocktails, the bar has a focus on simple, elegant serves that put the customer first. We were voted as the UK’s best bar at the Class Awards 2019. Three Sheets has also been listed in the World's 50 Best Bars list, rising to number 16. Three Sheets is currently Timeout London's Best Bar.
Ryan is undoubtedly the biggest name in cocktails right now. He has pioneered numerous venues in London and around the world focused on changing the way we think about bars and cocktails.
His book is not only a great entry into the world of cocktails with great classic recipes, but it also showcases interesting flavour combinations and techniques that can be used both in a bar and at home.
"An essential companion and an exciting treat" - Marco Pierre White"Mr Lyan is king of cocktails" - Todd Selby. Cocktails aren't just for fancy nights out and snobby home mixologists. Join award-winning and internationally acclaimed mixologist Mr Lyan (the man behind the White Lyan and Dandelyan bars in London) for cocktail hour as he shows you how 60 innovative and exciting cocktails can be part of your everyday life. Easy to make and beautifully photographed, here you will find a cocktail for every mood and occasion, from sunny day drinks and winter warmers to Friday night cocktails and morning revivers.…
I’m the author of the Peter Pike private eye series. Pike regularly tangles with psychos; you can’t have crime novels without them. Why? People love psychos. Psychos horrify and fascinate us. Do we wish we
could be them? Maybe. The best psychos are outwardly lovable and charming and get whatever they want, making you laugh and shudder at the same time. Wish fulfillment? Fantasy? Subconscious longings? Again, maybe. I know such fiction lets you dive deeply into what’s now called transgressive territory without consequences. Does fiction get any better than that?
Pelecanos is the worst. Pelecanos is a bum. I hate George Pelecanos. Every time I read one of his novels I get depressed because I will never be as good as him. More modern existential hardcore PI fiction, the third novel in a triology set in DC, this one too blew me away with its vision of DC, which I had just quit for Philadelphia. But it’s not the DC you and I know of marble and monuments, posturing politicians and bright ties, bright young people, and great eateries. Shoegum Nick Stefanos prowls some very mean DC streets and alleys and slimy creeks while battling his own nature. He’s a barkeep, a drunk, a f**up. This novel showed me that thoroughly entertaining nihilistic crime fiction is alive and well. Have I mentioned I hate Pelecanos?
'You already been a punk. Least you can do is go out like a man.' Then a dull popping sound and a quiet splash. That's how Nick Stefanos gets drawn into the murder of Calvin Jeter. An investigation that takes him through the roughest part of the nation's capital and the blackest parts of the human soul. Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go is the third volume in the Nick Stefanos series - which establishes George P. Pelecanos as the rightful heir to the noir tradition of James Cain, David Goodis and Jim Thompson.
I was a child who was very dissatisfied with the idea that this world, with its rules and routines, is all there is. Sunday school filled me with a fear of hell, and heaven sounded boring, a lot of people wearing white and singing. This forced me into the world of fairy and folktales: spirits, tricksters, masquerades, elves, werecreatures, and merpeople. It was all so exciting and, more than that, comforting. The just were rewarded, and the wicked were punished within the timeframe of the story, not later when they died.
I haven't read it in twenty years, having been introduced to Tutuola's work as part of my undergrad degree. It's a book full of ghosts and the sort of mind that perceives and interacts with them. It basically epitomises the saying, 'Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,' but is the palm-wine drinkard a fool, brave, desperate, or just very, very drunk when he wanders off on his quest through the spirit world? Or is he all of the above?
This classic novel tells the phantasmagorical story of an alcoholic man and his search for his dead palm-wine tapster. As he travels through the land of the dead, he encounters a host of supernatural and often terrifying beings - among them the complete gentleman who returns his body parts to their owners and the insatiable hungry-creature. Mixing Yoruba folktales with what T. S. Eliot described as a 'creepy crawly imagination', The Palm-Wine Drinkard is regarded as the seminal work of African literature.
'Brief, thronged, grisly and bewitching.' Dylan Thomas, Observer
'Tutuola's art conceals - or rather clothes - his purpose,…
A cocktail book containing very approachable recipes and an imbibing guide through time travelling that offers a new set of classics. Amanda Schuster also squares a unique perspective as you flip through the pages of this beautiful catalogue of drinks, adding just the right amount of historical backdrop and data that fill in the holes of the origin of a cocktail without getting too far out for the civilian enthusiast. Listed chronologically, beginning in the year 1475 (!) to the present, “Signature Cocktails” will present a new appreciation for what goes into the birth of a classic cocktail and what makes it classic to begin with. Open the book up anywhere for a concise description, easy to follow recipes and some good, old folklore debunking (which helps keep it on the light side). The photography gives you something to aim for though I wouldn’t get intimidated, it’s the flavor that…
A collection of 200 iconic drinks from around the globe, each of which has changed the culture of the cocktail
A signature cocktail is a bespoke drink that expresses the nature of the time, person, or place for which it was created. In this book, the author curates a collection of the most celebrated cocktails - from well-known classics such as the Bellini, to the up-to-the-minute Twin Cities from New York's ultra-hip Dead Rabbit bar. Signature cocktails have become an increasingly popular way to define the style and character of a celebrated…
I have been a journalist for over a decade, most frequently writing on the subjects of spirits, cocktails, and drinking culture for such publications as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Esquire, Playboy, and VinePair. I have written 12 books—6 of them on booze—my latest of which is Dusty Booze: In Search of Vintage Spirits.
So often, booze history has not been carefully written down, and Simonson wanted to ensure that would not be the case when it came to the cocktail renaissance that kicked off in the early 21st century.
Chapter by chapter, he introduces us to the players—bartenders, bar owners, producers, and reps—along with the bars that reinvigorated a nearly-dead American tradition of Martinis, Manhattans, Margaritas, and many more drinks that are now, thanks to them, ubiquitous everywhere on the globe.
A narrative history of the craft cocktail renaissance, written by a New York Times cocktail writer and one of the foremost experts on the subject.
A Proper Drink is the first-ever book to tell the full, unflinching story of the contemporary craft cocktail revival. Award-winning writer Robert Simonson interviewed more than 200 key players from around the world, and the result is a rollicking (if slightly tipsy) story of the characters—bars, bartenders, patrons, and visionaries—who in the last 25 years have changed the course of modern drink-making. The book also features a curated list of about 40 cocktails—25 modern classics,…
I’ve been writing about cocktails and spirits for over a decade, often in collaboration with my mixologist husband and co-author, John McCarthy. Our mission is to create delicious, practical cocktail recipes for the home bartender. There are a number of cocktail books out there, but they usually fall into two camps. Novelty books, which are often silly and untested. Or books written by professionals, for professionals, impractical if you don’t have a centrifuge, dehydrator, and 300-odd liqueurs in your home bar. What about the vast middle ground–people who love cocktails, want to make them at home, and learn something while they’re sipping? We believe in finding the best books for them.
I’ve spent more than a decade immersed in the cocktail world and writing about bar culture, mixology, and technique; John is an award-winning bartender himself. And yet when we have questions on cocktail technique, we always, always reach for this book.
Jeffrey Morgenthaler is a legend in the industry and, what’s more, he has a gift for clear instruction. Whatever our question, we’ll find an authoritative answer here.
I was raised in a don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it town in southeast Tennessee. I was embarrassed by where I came from for a long time, and worked on getting rid of my tell-tale accent. Then, as the years went on, I figured out who I am as a person was shaped by being a small-town Southern girl. So I embraced my Southerness. When I started writing fiction, it never occurred to me to set my books anywhere but small towns, and every one of them is. I’m fact, with the exception of one, all my books are set in Tennessee. At this point, I can't imagine notwriting small-town stories.
This book took me on a journey that was both heart-wrenching and heart-warming.
Once I started reading, I was hooked. This romance is not what I expected. Both the heroine and hero had faced tragedy, and the book took me back in time as they remembered the things that completely changed the course of their lives.
By each asking the other just one thing at a time, the story took shape. Slowly, painfully, together they took the road forward and found comfort in each other. As comfort turned into love it was a gift neither ever expected. This small-town novel is absolutely unforgettable.
"Sometimes, you find yourself inadvertently in the dark. But I'd discovered that if you stopped fighting against it and just stood still, sometimes something marvelous comes along."
Artist Lexie McCain spends her days literally weaving the story of her life into a gorgeous tapestry. But on Monday nights, she walks to the Corner Bar, drinks a Killian's, and answers the same question every week from Sam the bartender: "One thing?" She starts with her name, then her cottage, slowly moving on to the devastating tragedies that tore her life apart.
Sam Corner's smile doesn't seem to hide any pain. One…
I was raised in a ‘hospitality forward’ household to say the least. My parents always had family and friends over the house eating and drinking and although no one was in the food and beverage industry, most of the folks all had something to say about food and beverage. It was a fundamental part of the conversation. It carried over to me and became something that I focused on even before I was ever in the service industry. With experience, I became more knowledgeable, and my tastes became wider and a bit more refined, but the seeds were planted long ago.
When recommending books on drinking and drinking properly, not necessarily making drinks properly, there are few recent releases that cover this ground. Jeffrey’s fun primer on the basics of drinking, its culture, and traditions make this a great first floor requirement in the skyscraper of imbibing. I would add that this would be a perfect gift for novice enthusiasts as it will help dodge plenty of missteps for sure.
An opinionated, illustrated guide for cocktail beginners, covering the basics of spirits plus making and drinking cocktails, written by celebrated craft cocktail bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler.
This easy-reading, colorful introduction for cocktail beginners, with approximately 100 succinct lessons on drinking culture, spirits, and cocktail making, is delivered in the pithy, wry style Morgenthaler is known for in his instructional videos and writing for beverage publications. Novices will learn how to order a drink, how to drink with the boss, how to drink at the airport, and more. Twelve perfect starter recipes—ranging from a Dry Gin Martini to a Batched Old-Fashioned (perfect…
