Showing results by publisher "Hodder & Stoughton" in Entertainment & Celebrities

A survive-and-thrive memoir from blogger and social media influencer Laura Jane Williams. When the man Laura Jane Williams thought she'd wed dumped her and married her friend, she was devastated. Empty. Drinking too much, sleeping around, and moving from place to place in a refusal to put down roots, she tried to fill the void - the gaping hole - that heartbreak had left behind. She wanted control. To grab life by the balls. To live boldly. But she rapidly learned it wasn't that simple.

When Alan left school at fifteen little was expected of him. An 'O' level in art is not the most obvious passport to success, but in the ancient greenhouses of the local nursery Mrs T's little lad found his spiritual home, learning his trade and the strange ways of human nature. But

Behind the glitz and glamour, Wayne has always felt like an outsider. Sleep reveals the difficulties for a working-class, gay man in handling the prejudices of his generation and living through the AIDS epidemic. Wayne was also the shortest principal dancer in the Royal Ballet - he had to spin twice as fast and jump twice as high to succeed. In this moving - but also laugh-out-loud and gossip filled - memoir, Wayne Sleep shows how he danced his way to success, fulfilment and love, and how he overcame obstacles and prejudice along the way.

Dermot O'Leary charts his story, from school to The X Factor, through the songs that were playing at the key moment in his life. This is the story of Dermot's life so far, from growing up in semi rural Colchester with his Irish born parents, to landing one of the biggets jobs in television. Throughout this journey, music has been a constant companion: a best friend, confidant, a really annoying sibling, and at times a tormentor.

In a sodden tent at a '70s festival, the teenage Mark Ellen had a dream. He dreamt that music was a rich meadow of possibility, a liberating leap to a sparkling future, an industry of human happiness - and he wanted to be part of it. Thus began his 50-year love affair with rock and roll. From his time at the NME and Smash Hits to Radio One, Old Grey Whistle Test, Live Aid, Q, Select, Mojo, and The Word magazines, he's been at the molten core of its evolution, and watched its key figures from a unique perspective.

Keep your enemies close, your family less so...Last year Nat found herself with nowhere to live. She considered sleeping on the bus and washing in the rain but inevitably ended up on her parents' doorstep. It was only for a month, she assured them, if that.. She repeated this phrase a lot over the next six months, while the housing market stagnated like a spoilt kid's fish tank, and her life followed suit.

The most detailed and insightful portrait of the life and death of Amy Winehouse, in the context of the infamous 27 Club. The death of Amy Winehouse at the age of 27 was a tragedy. She was one of the brightest music stars in years - a brilliant, original song writer with a mighty voice and great personal charm. Amy was loveable, but troubled. She was as notorious for her messy personal life, drug addiction and alcoholism, as she was celebrated for her songs, and her death in 2011, while shocking, was not unexpected.

George the Poet knows better than anybody the importance of understanding your surroundings. Born to Ugandan parents on the St Raphael's Estate in Neasden, north-west London, George Mpanga has always been aware of his community. It was both his teacher and his inspiration - giving him the language, the experiences, and the skills to become the person he is today. In Track Record, George unveils the power dynamics that shape our world, shedding light on the forces that restrict Black creativity and put limits on Black excellence.

Online quizmaster Jay Flynn was down on his luck as the Covid pandemic broke. He'd lost his pub, The Crown in Lancashire, which he'd been running with his wife, and was looking for ways to keep the loyal locals together for whom the regular weekly quiz was a lifeline. He set up a quiz night on Facebook but forgot to mark the event as private. Before long 800 people had registered their interest and it was about to go viral around the world.

Russell Watson was at the peak of his success as a much-loved classical singer. He had gone from humble beginnings, working in a factory making nuts and bolts in Salford to singing in working men's clubs to performing to stadiums filled with thousands of fans. But then tragedy struck. In 2006 and 2007 he was diagnosed with two brain tumours. In the subsequent years he battled crippling treatment, lifesaving operations, HRT therapy and mental health struggles. In Encore he tells his remarkable story of triumph over tragedy and the resilience he built along the way.