Transworld: 509 books

Can a crocodile spit? What does the Queen have for dinner? How do you measure a rainbow? Why is q always followed by u? Originally open for children to phone in with their homework issues, these days the 'Homework Sucks' segment of Simon Mayo's award-winning Drivetime show invites listeners...

We can no longer cope with our waste. Every hour in the UK we throw away enough rubbish to fill the Albert hall - a statistic quoted so often that perhaps we've stopped imagining what it means. And every year the flow accelerates. This is the story of our rubbish - from the first human bowel movement...

Alice Rose is a foundling, discovered on the Yorkshire moors above Haworth as a baby. Adopted but then later rejected again by a horrid step-mother, Alice struggles to find a place where she belongs. Only baking – the scent of cinnamon and citrus and the feel of butter and flour between her fingers...

Before Bradley Wiggins, there was Sean Yates. Behind Bradley Wiggins, there was Sean Yates. One of only five Britons to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France, Sean Yates burst onto the cycling scene as the rawest pure talent this country has ever seen. After turning professional at the...

Known collectively as The Priests, Fr Martin, Fr Eugene and Fr David, have taken the music world by storm. Since they signed their much-reported Sony contract in front of Westminster Cathedral in April 2008, their album has sold almost 2,000,000 copies worldwide and broke the Guinness record for the...

If I close my eyes now, I can still feel her blood on my fingers. If only I had closed my eyes then, or kept my mouth shut, not told anyone about our discovery by the swimming hole, we could have gone back to dreaming about spaceships. A horrifying discovery by two young boys while playing...

Olavo Bettencourt is an important man, a man of spin. With Brazil adjusting to the new idea of democracy, his PR firm holds the balance of power in its hands. Which has also made Olavo very rich, if not very popular. Loathed by his trophy wife and mired in a web of political corruption that...

In her long-awaited book, Sister Stan draws upon her memories of childhood and the special moments of awareness and mystery which have nourished and enriched her life. As she offers simple reflections to help us focus on the many gifts and blessings that surround us each day, she helps us to connect to our inner world, and the deep, nurturing silence that lies within.

‘Quite brilliant; beautifully, cleverly observed; funny, heart-breaking.’ – Roddy Doyle Hilary is four, not yet five, and she has a mother and a father and an older brother and sisters. She even has a name at home – Billy – that is different from her written-down name. But now that...

"A proudly partisan history of the British aristocracy - which scores some shrewd hits against the upper class themselves, and the nostalgia of the rest of us for their less endearing eccentricities. A great antidote to Downton Abbey." (Mary Beard) Exploring the extraordinary social...

The deeply moving second novel from the author of the award-winning FIVE RIVERS MET ON A WOODED PLAIN. 'Courageous...memorable...moving' - Guardian 'One of our most exciting young writers' - The Times **'Life-affirming, beautiful and achingly poignant' - Donal Ryan 'Isn’t the life...

For the Anfield faithful, Jamie Carragher represents everything that is great about Liverpool Football Club, prompting the Kop to sing 'we all dream of a team of Carraghers'. The club's vice-captain, longest-serving player and one of a select band of players to have made more than 500 appearances...

When the name of Theo Walcott was included in the England squad for the 2006 World Cup, shock waves ran through the football world. But no one was more surprised than Theo himself. Five years later, Theo Walcott is one of the most recognizable names in football. As the English heart of the...

Do you ever search in vain for exactly the right word? Perhaps you want to articulate the vague desire to be far away. Or you can’t quite convey that odd urge to go outside and check to see if anyone is coming. Maybe you’re struggling to express there being just the right amount of something –...