Niall Edworthy – författare

Sling the bucket! Slay that FOMO! Save your precious money and time, your sanity, your patience and your dignity. This is the anti-manifesto for anyone who's ever been tempted or guilt-tripped into chasing 'transformational' life experiences or railroaded into dumb ideas; comfort literature for the victims of the zeitgeist who have ended up out of sorts, out of pocket, out of joy, out of endurance, out of their mind... and who's damned stupid idea was this in the first place? Houseboat living? Silent retreats? A house rabbit? Whitewater rafting? Climbing Everest? I mean, please. This book is your permission slip to be a party-pooping curmudgeon and say to the chirpy, chipper cheerleaders of the life better lived, 'No, no, move along, I'm quite alright, thank you.' With playful scorn, The 'F**kit! List calls out the reality behind the fluff, the hype and the hard sell, exposing the grim small print beneath the banner headlines that promise deep contentment, spiritual fulfilment and fun! fun! fun! Whether it's keeping bees or hens, buying a vintage car, staying in an ice hotel, or going off-grid-this book says what you've always felt deep down: do me a favour, will you?Read this hilarious volume of 41 imperative DON'Ts! and join the Fun Police out there on the beat, bringing to justice the bucket-list buccaneers, the fun-flogging influencers and the lifestyle lemmings.

Badger’s Rugby Compendium is a humorous glossary of over 500 terms, slang and jargon, all the lingo from the inner world of rugby explained with witty definitions and illustrations to amuse the dedicated fan and enlighten the rugby-curious.If you had never seen a rugby match, say you were born and bred on Pluto but you were fluent in English, on tuning into a match you might ask yourselves three questions: i) Why are all these people rolling around in the mud? ii) Why are they so cross with each other? iii) Why is the commentator talking in Klingon? Many people let rugby pass them by as they do cricket and other sports built upon a complex set of rules. To understand the rules, to take some pleasure from a sport, as anything else in life, you must understand the language by which it is described. To go one level deeper and take joy from the sport and immerse yourself in its culture, traditions and nuances, you must have a working knowledge of its jargon and slang. What do they say? The limit of my world is the limit of my words. ‘He’s a hoisted a bomb there, buried him with a snotter, gone in for the jackal, hands all  over the egg, given him a facial, and kicked off the handbags. He’s getting pinged here and he’s got himself ten minutes riding the pine or I’m Bill Beaumont.’ There’s only one reaction a rugby stranger might have to that: ‘You what?’ I mean, no wonder the rugby-curious viewer keeps flicking the remote. The aim of this little glossary of rugby union terminology, banter and vernacular is to offer some light entertainment for the devoted fan, but also a little enlightenment for the uninitiated and bemused.

Drawing on over 2,000 years of writing and experiences from all over the world, The Curious World of Christmas covers every remarkable aspect of the largest religious festival on Earth. This is a unique treasury of amusing and poignant anecdotes, heart-warming stories, ancient customs, forgotten traditions, historical insights, practical tips, bizarre practices, recipes, quotations and a scattering of jaw-dropping statistics. And while it shuns cloying sentimentality, it is never cynical or contemptuous - The Curious World of Christmas wears its paper hat with pride.Chapters include:Pagan roots of Christmas; Christmas with our ancestors; Christmas around the world; the origins of Santa Claus; Christmas at war; Christmas presents: shopping and DIY; at work on Xmas day; reunions and tantrums; volcanoes, earthquakes and train crashes; Xmas traditions; Xmas weather and Food and Drink - all with a liberal sprinkling of great quotations, and some statistics for good measure.

Are optimists just reckless dreamers? Are pessimists miserable doom-mongers or just erring on the side of caution? Is the glass half empty or half full?Brilliantly compiled and beautifully written, this is a rich anthology of evidence from both sides of any argument. Covering everything from Beauty to Happiness, Patriotism to Walking, it is the perfect tool for squabbling families, a counterbalance for arguing couples and a mine of detail for the quarrelsome. The Optimist on the Afterlife: My heaven will be filled with wonderful young men and dukes. (Dame Barbara Cartland)And the Pessimist: 'That's what Hell will be like, small chat to the babbling of Lethe about the good old days when we wished we were dead. (Samuel Beckett)

Celebrating the garden in all its splendid diversity and rich history, discover a treasury of gardening wisdom, myths, recipes & timeless tips from centuries of horticultural tradition.The Curious Gardener's Almanac contains over 1000 entries of remarkable information about flowers, vegetables, fruits, trees, herbs, insects, birds, water, soil, tools, composts, climate, recipes, gardens and gardeners, myths, superstitions, and so much more. In short, it is a collection as profuse and variegated as gardening itself.Woven into this wealth of knowledge are famous quotations, anecdotes, traditional sayings, lines of verse, and words of rural wisdom. While the focus of the Almanac is on British gardening, the wider picture is international as so much of our gardens originated from overseas.Containing a treasure-trove of interesting and practical information, The Curious Gardener’s Almanac is a must-read for gardening beginners or green-thumbed experts, and anyone who finds joy in the natural world.Praise for The Curious Gardener’s Almanac:‘Packed full of recipes, sages, tips and histories, it is a perfect addition to any greenhouse collection... this book has the capacity to encourage, inform and inspire... A perfect present for the green-fingered’- The Ecologist‘[A] collection of nuggets and ancient wisdom related to gardening’ The Sunday Times‘The Curious Gardener's Almanac is a beautifully written and produced gem of a book. Just the right size to fit into the pocket of a raincoat it is full of helpful hints garnered over the ages’ Living North‘Calling on curiosities, wisdom, customs, tips, recipes and quotations spanning hundreds of years, The Curious Gardener's Almanac contains enlightening facts and useful hints for the gardener’ Lancashire Evening Post‘[A] quite amazing collection of time-honoured wisdom, gathered from diverse sources... This almanac is a definite must for the dabbler as much as for the dedicated gardener’ Western Mail Series

'A revelation for anyone with the slightest interest in the feathered friends visiting their gardens' - Garden NewsYou don't have to be a dedicated birdwatcher to be a bird lover. Millions of us love the sight and sound of them. And yet most of us know very little about their remarkable behaviour, incredible diversity and the story of their evolution. This handbook sets about answering every interesting question there is to ask about birds.How do migrating birds know where to go?Are birds really descended from dinosaurs?How do birds have sex?There are over 10,000 species in the world, including over 500 in Britain, some rare and endangered, some bizarre and beautiful, others common and familiar. As this captivating and often humorous handbook reveals, all of them are fascinating.Filled with beautiful illustrations, The Curious Bird Lover's Handbook is perfect for experienced twitchers and those who are simply captivated by the beauty of birds and would like to learn more about them.-The hardback edition titled "Bald Coot and Screaming Loon" was published in 2009. This paperback edition has been updated and includes a new foreword from the author.

An absolute beauty of a book: a delightfully illustrated A-to-Z collection of over 400 eccentric and hilarious words and phrases used by international players, village and club cricketers, the perfect handbook for the cricket fan, the wordsmith and the humourist.Beer snake, Barnes Wallace, Bunsen and Buzzers ... Featherbed, Ferret, Flamingo, Footler ... Pickpocket, Pie Chucker, Pongo and Pudding ... Teapot, Toe-smasher, Tonto and Twiddler ... The language of cricket is as rich as its history.The lexicon of cricket jargon has ballooned in recent years, thanks to round-the-clock global television coverage, the expansion of competitions, new in-match technological devices and live online reporting of Tests, One-Day Internationals and T20s.This charming glossary of terms brings together in one handy volume all the modern buzzwords and time-seasoned banter of the players, fans and commentators, and delivers it to the cricket lover's armchair, loo and bedside table.From Lord's to Lahore, Delhi to Durham, Melbourne to Manchester, Cape Town to the Caribbean, cricket is a universal language. Packed with curious words and expressions, new and old, laugh-out-loud funny and downright ill-mannered, this compilation will delight cricket fans the world over.Sample entries:Banter - Euph. Word casting a light veil over the bitter exchange of insults taking place between the batsman and assorted fielders. See also Niggle, Exchange of Pleasantries, VerbalsCamel - Graceless and unathletic fielder, often an ageing fast bowler, dispatched to a distant backwater of the outfield in which he is least likely to make a fool of himself. See also Cart HorseNighthawk - A Nightwatchman on crack cocaine who comes to the wicket looking to slog 30 runs from 12 balls rather than block 30 for one. Term said to be coined by England quick Stuart Broad in the Bazball era of Brendon McCullum.

A wickedly funny A to Z of golfing terms, the perfect gift for anyone who has ever taken to the fairways.This irreverent handbook is packed with the funniest slang words, outrageous phrases and bizarre jargon as used daily by professionals and social golfers around the world.Essential laugh-out-loud reading for all players and followers of sport's most infuriating game, packed with witty and weird jargon from the world's clubhouses and fairways.Adolf Hitler, Airmail, Amen Corner, Army Golf ... Bandit, Brassie, Brazilian, Breakfast Ball ... Ferret, Flub, Flusher, Fried Egg ... Rabbit, Rickshaw, Ryanair, Rushdie ... Waggle, Whiff, Wise (Dennis), Wormburner... this exquisitely designed book contains over 400 curious and laugh-out-loud words and phrases from both sides of the Atlantic and beyond.From St. Andrews to Augusta, Royal St. George's to The Royal Melbourne, Sunningdale to Sun City, Pebble Beach to Pine Valley... golfers share the same funny language, united in humour and exasperation by the same challenges, hazards, obstacles and duff errors.This densely packed volume of hilarious terms is essential reading for every golf enthusiast and clubhouse bore ever to have found themselves on a Claggy Lie on a Goat Track, pulled out the Hand Wedge deep in the Cabbage or smashed a Ferret out of the Kitty Litter, the perfect gift from golf widows and widowers around the globe.Sample Entries:Captain Kirk - Wild shot, going where no shot has gonebeforeCuban - Ball just short of the hole that neededanother revolution to get in. See Corbyn, JeremyLaurel & Hardy - Fat shot followed by a thin one, or vice-versaMouth Wedge - A gobby golfer who talks too much and bugshell out of his playing partnersSalman Rushdie - A difficult readSon-in-law - Of a shot that you weren't really hopingfor, but it will just about do.

An A to Z humorous dictionary loaded withover 1,000 curious words and funny phrases, dressing room banter, tunnel talk, pundit-speak,gantry gaffes, classic cliches and terrace ridicule from the colourful languageof British football. The sharp and lively definitions given to everydayfootball-speak makes this celebration of the national game's rich culture, a laugh-out-loudentertainment and essential handbook for all fans in Britain and around theworld.Whether rolling off the terraces, yelled onthe training ground, mangled in the post-match interview or muttered in thecommentary box, the language of British football keeps on giving, a rich andpeculiar dialect all of its own, peppered with spicy slang, clunking with commonplaceclassics and sneering with contempt and ridicule.Badger's Football Slang and Banter gives 110 percent, leavesnothing on the pitch, stamping its authority with aplomb - and that little bitof quality - to create an absolute banger of a read for all football fans inBritain and the millions following Britain's national game from abroad.Sample EntriesBrown Trouser Time - Penalty ShootoutCultured Left Foot - A foot that studied MoralPhilosophy and Fine Art at UniLung-BurstingRun - Any sprint up field longerthan fifty yards, often fruitless, leading to the explosion of respiratoryorgansMassive Club - The status of every club a new player hasjust joined, usually one that won the FA Cup in 1924 but nothing sinceOrc - Northern fan, according to a southern onePrawnSandwich Brigade - Amilitary-style unit of bourgeois fans who eschew traditional pies for seafoodproducts in focacciaTeacups - The go-to projectile of the angry managerat half-time

It is 1937 and Otto Eckhart, an aimless young historian, issummoned to the seat of power in Berlin. Tasked with an ominous and impossible assignment- to locate the Holy Grail and bring it back for the glory of Nazi Germany -the feckless dreamer must come of age, find his courage and use all hisingenuity to defeat his private demons and the dark power of the Third Reich. Andwill it all end happily with the bold and beautiful woman who becomes embroiledin his quest?

'A revelation for anyone with the slightest interest in the feathered friends visiting their gardens' - Garden NewsYou don't have to be a dedicated birdwatcher to be a bird lover. Millions of us love the sight and sound of them. And yet most of us know very little about their remarkable behaviour, incredible diversity and the story of their evolution. This handbook sets about answering every interesting question there is to ask about birds.How do migrating birds know where to go?Are birds really descended from dinosaurs?How do birds have sex?There are over 10,000 species in the world, including over 500 in Britain, some rare and endangered, some bizarre and beautiful, others common and familiar. As this captivating and often humorous handbook reveals, all of them are fascinating.Filled with beautiful illustrations, The Curious Bird Lover's Handbook is perfect for experienced twitchers and those who are simply captivated by the beauty of birds and would like to learn more about them.-The hardback edition titled "Bald Coot and Screaming Loon" was published in 2009. This paperback edition has been updated and includes a new foreword from the author.