Dozakhnama: Conversations in Hell is an extraordinary novel, a biography of Manto and Ghalib and a history of Indian culture rolled into one.Exhumed from dust, Manto's unpublished novel surfaces in Lucknow. Is it real or is it a fake? In this dastan, Manto and Ghalib converse, entwining their lives in shared dreams. The result is an intellectual journey that takes us into the people and events that shape us as a culture. As one writer describes it, 'I discovered Rabisankar Bal like a torch in the darkness of the history of this subcontinent. This is the real story of two centuries of our own country.'Rabisankar Bal's audacious novel, told by reflections in a mirror and forged in the fires of hell, is both an oral tale and a shield against oblivion. An echo of distant screams. Inscribed by the devil's quill, Dozakhnama is an outstanding performance of subterranean memory. Views: 35
An entertaining and enlightening compendium of the world's most amazing and bizarre plants, revealing their secrets, history, and loreWhat happens when you give a plant a polygraph test? Can a flower really turn a human into a zombie? What gives the gingko tree its stink? The Big, Bad Book of Botany holds the incredible answers to all of these questions and more. From absinthe to zubrowka (a popular ingredient in Polish vodkas), Michael Largo takes you through the historical and agricultural evolution of hundreds of plant species, revealing astonishing facts along the way. You'll be introduced to magic mushrooms, superfoods, and toxic teas. You'll learn about plants so valuable they have started international wars, so evolved they can trick animals into helping them survive, and so deadly a single taste of one will kill you. Featuring more than one hundred and forty illustrations, this fascinating and fun A-to-Z encyclopedia for all ages will transform the way you look... Views: 35
ALA Notable Book; Mississippi Arts and Letters Fiction Award. Nordan's fiction invents its own world, a world populated by madly heroic misfits. In MUSIC OF THE SWAMP, he focuses his magic and imagination on a single theme—a boy's utterly helpless love for his utterly hopeless father. ""Lordy, Lordy, can Lewis Nordan write!""—Los Angeles Times Book Review; ""It is absolute ballad put to page.""—Southern Living. Views: 35
0n May 24, 1869, a one-armed Civil War veteran named John Wesley Powell and a ragtag band of nine mountain men embarked on the last great quest in the American West. No one had ever explored the fabled Grand Canyon; to adventurers of that era it was a region almost as mysterious as Atlantis -- and as perilous.The ten men set out down the mighty Colorado River in wooden rowboats. Six survived. Drawing on rarely examined diaries and journals, Down the Great Unknown is the first book to tell the full, true story. Views: 35
Spring 1803Jane Charlesworth, daughter of England's foremost code breaker, is the only person thought capable of deciphering a vital government document. But when a naval frigate is sent to enlist her services and transport her to Malta, Jane is horrified. Haunted with terrible memories of an earlier voyage, she has no intention of putting herself under the protection of the Admiralty ever again.Anxious to be at the forefront of the action as the peace with France crumbles, Adam Marston is livid when his ship is diverted to collect a reluctant bluestocking whose accusing eyes and insolent manner hold nothing but contempt for him and his orders. Sparks fly when captain and code breaker find they have different ideas on how to handle a French attack, a malicious chaplain, and boisterous midshipmen.Duty and desire collide as they approach Malta, but Jane is determined that her judgment will not be clouded by Adam who, once he has despatched his Rebellious Cargo, will sail out of her... Views: 35
There are more family secrets waiting to be discovered at Vandermeer Manor in America in the second book of a historical fiction mystery series. It's the end of June in 1914, and Beth Etheridge is traveling from her home in England's Chatswood Manor all the way to America, to visit her cousin Kate at Vandermeer Manor in Rhode Island. The girls are thrilled to be united, especially because Beth will be in attendance when Kate receives the heirloom "Katherine" necklace: one half of a heart encrusted with gorgeous rubies. It's the companion to Beth's "Elizabeth" necklace. But the trip is cut short when news arrives of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. With talk of war on the horizon, Beth is ordered to return home, but Kate knows the perfect hiding place to help her stay. A wing of Vandermeer Manor is rumored to be haunted, and as the girls explore, they find a different kind of ghost—and a new trove of family secrets. Views: 35
In the face of increasing troubles in the world, Tika and her companions discover Vagrantia, the hidden community of once-powerful magic wielders. After centuries of seclusion, the Vagrantian leader, Thryssa, has to decide whether to allow her people to participate in the affairs of the outside world. Views: 35
DAUGHTER OF THE WOLF is set during the Dark Ages in an England ruled by rival kings. Among the lords who serve them is Radmer of Donmouth, the King's Wolf, guardian of the estuary gateway to Northumbria. When the king sends Radmer on a mission to Rome, Donmouth is left in the safekeeping of his only daughter, Elfrun, whose formidable grandmother wants her to take the veil, while treacherous Tilmon of Illingham covets her for his son. This is the story of daughters in a man's world. Wynn, determined to take over from her father, the smith; Saethryth, wilful daughter of the village steward, whose longing for passion will set off a tragic sequence of events; and Auli, whose merchant venturer father plies his trade up and down the coast, spying for the Danes. Above all, it is the story of Elfrun of Donmouth, uncertain of her father's fate, no knowing whom she can trust, or whom she can love. Views: 35
A scientist's claim that he's found the secrets of the universe's origin encoded in DNA sparks a race against time to uncover the truth in this fast-paced thriller of science and faith, power and murder, loss and redemption.Dan Lawson, a former government cyber-intelligence analyst, is surprised to be contacted by his estranged friend Stephen Bishop, a renowned geneticist. Stephen says that he's discovered amazing information within DNA, including evidence of a creator, and needs Dan's help to protect his findings. Dan is skeptical and wonders whether he is being manipulated, or if the recent illness of Stephen's only child, Ava, has caused his childhood friend to fall back on religion for answers to questions best left to science. Spurred by his desire for proof that life has meaning, however, Dan puts aside his doubts and agrees to help. When an experiment goes terribly awry, Dan realizes he must get to the bottom of Stephen's discoveries. With the help... Views: 35
