Penguin Books

If you like poisonings, betrayals, mutilations, murders and flesh-eating farmyard animals, keep reading...In this gripping follow-up to Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods, demigod Percy Jackson tells the stories of twelve of the original Greek heroes in all their gory, bloodthirsty glory. Want to know who cut off Medusa's head? Which hero was raised by a she-bear? Who tamed Pegasus, the winged horse? Percy has all the answers...Rick Riordan is an award-winning writer. He lives in Boston with his wife and two sons. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Rick's first novel featuring the heroic young demigod, was the overall winner of the Red House Children's Book Award in 2006 and is now a blockbuster film franchise, starring Logan Lerman.

Introducing Paul O'Rourke: New Yorker, dentist and reluctant non-believer. Modern life disappoints him, and love never solves any of his problems. Then someone steals his identity and starts impersonating Paul online. A cruel invasion of privacy, the real horror is yet to come: this virtual 'Paul', preaching an obscure, ancient religion, might just be a better, happier person than the real deal. Anxious to find out who is responsible for this disturbing turn of events, Paul embarks on a quest which will see him confront the meaning of life, the inevitability of death and the importance of good oral hygiene.

Renowned urban artist Shepard Fairey's new look for Orwell's classic dystopian tale One of Britain's most popular novels, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is set in a society terrorised by a totalitarian ideology propagated by The Party. Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth in London, chief city of Airstrip One. Big Brother stares out from every poster, the Thought Police uncover every act of betrayal. When Winston finds love with Julia, he discovers that life does not have to be dull and deadening, and awakens to new possibilities. Despite the police helicopters that hover and circle overhead, Winston and Julia begin to question the Party, they are drawn towards conspiracy. Yet Big Brother will not tolerate dissent - even in the mind. For those with original thoughts they invented Room 101. . . Nineteen Eighty-Four is George Orwell's terrifying vision of a totalitarian future in which everything and everyone is slave to a tyrannical regime. The novel also coined many new words and phrases which regular appear in popular culture, such as 'Big Brother', 'thoughtcrime', 'doublethink' and 'Newspeak'.

"The Catcher in Rye" is the ultimate novel for disaffected youth, but it's relevant to all ages. The story is told by Holden Caulfield, a seventeen-year-old dropout who has just been kicked out of his fourth school. Throughout, Holden dissects the 'phony' aspects of society, and the 'phonies' themselves: the headmaster whose affability depends on the wealth of the parents, his roommate who scores with girls using sickly-sweet affection. Lazy in style, full of slang and swear words, it's a novel whose interest and appeal comes from its observations rather than its plot intrigues (in conventional terms, there is hardly any plot at all). Salinger's style creates an effect of conversation, it is as though Holden is speaking to you personally, as though you too have seen through the pretences of the American Dream and are growing up unable to see the point of living in, or contributing to, the society around you. Written with the clarity of a boy leaving childhood, it deals with society, love, loss, and expectations without ever falling into the clutch of a cliche.

A U.S. Navy Commander is attacked in a crowded restaurant while on leave. How did the assassin know his exact location? In Tehran airport, a Canadian businessman is taken away to be interrogated. He has been a CIA operative for over a decade - why has his cover now been blown? A massive information breach has compromised America's intelligence agencies and around the globe, the noose is tightening. So now, it's up to The Campus - an elite team of America's finest - to trace the leak to its source. Their investigation will uncover a threat that has wormed its way to the heart of power. And the only man who can stop it, is the one closest to the danger: President Jack Ryan.

'Poignant, funny and highly readable. Would make a wonderful present.' Sue Leonard, Examiner 'A real snapshot in time ...a celebration of female friendship ...fantastic - such a good read' Irish Times Women's Podcast 'Engaging ...tender and true and spiced with wit and no little wisdom' RTE Guide 'Heart-warming ...nostalgic ...the letters brim over with the kind of humour and honest reflection that only best friends exchange' Irish Independent 'I highly recommend this unusual and fantastic book. It's a great trip down memory lane.' Librarian Lavender 'Isn't it great, Cathy, being where we are (age-wise I mean)? I really enjoy being 18 cos you have a degree of independence and yet you can act the gom if you want cos we're not "all growed up" yet.' 'I don't know if I agree about it being great being 18. I'm kinda apprehensive, waiting for "it all" to come. I think 22-23'd be better. Then you'd be sophisticated and knowledgeable ...' It's the era of Dynasty, Murphy's Micro Quiz-M and MT-USA on the telly, Kajagoogoo, Culture Club and Chris de Burgh in the charts. And also a time of mass emigration and creeping social change. In 1983 in Carrick-on-Suir two 18-year-olds take tentative steps into the future: Cathy to become an au pair, Mary to study accountancy. For a year they exchange long gossipy letters. The letters are touching, funny, tender and gutsy. They show the girls' growing pains as they make sense of their new lives, dream about finding love, and start to realise that the world is a more complex and challenging place than they had ever imagined. Most of all, Cathy and Mary's letters are filled with the eternal optimism and sense of wonderment of youth.