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Eleven Hours

One pregnant woman. One deranged man. Eleven hours of hell. Abducted from a shopping mall in Dallas, Didi Wood, in her ninth month of pregnancy, is taken on the most dangerous, horrifying ride of her life, as a madman drives her across Texas. While her husband and the FBI try furiously to track them down, they can only hope to find Didi -- and her unborn child -- alive.
Views: 762

Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul II

These stories, written for teens just like you, will make you laugh and make you cry. Most importantly, they'll show you that you are not alone, and that lots of other kids are going through the same ups and downs as you as they take that big step from being kids to being adults. 
Views: 761

Pure Drivel

Steve Martin has always been one of the most intelligent of comedians (you won't find Adam Sandler writing a play about Einstein and Picasso anytime soon), but this intelligence is manifested in gymnastically absurdist flights of fancy, rather than the politically informed riffs typical of performers like Lenny Bruce. Pure Drivel is a collection of pieces, most of them written for the New Yorker, that demonstrate Martin's playful way with words and his unerring ability to create a feeling of serendipitous improvisation even on the printed page. Here's a passage from a piece that announces a shortage of periods in the Times Roman font: "Most vulnerable are writers who work in short, choppy sentences," said a spokesperson for Times Roman, who continued, "We are trying to remedy the situation and have suggested alternatives, like umlauts, since we have plenty of umlauts--and, in fact, have more umlauts than we could possibly use in a lifetime! Don't forget, umlauts can really spice up a page with their delicate symmetry--resting often midway in a word, letters spilling on either side--and not only indicate the pronunciation of a word but also contribute to a writer's greater glory because they're fancy, not to mention that they even look like periods, indeed, are indistinguishable from periods, and will lead casual readers to believe that the article actually contains periods!" Although some of these pieces flirted with topicality when they first appeared, Martin is most successful when he leaves the real world behind and gives his wit free rein. This collection preserves the best (so far) of his glorious improvisations. --Simon Leake
Views: 760

Slave Girls of Rome

In Slave Girls of the Western World we follow the adventures of Marcus, a lusty officer in the legions of Rome, as he is sent to guard the Northern frontier from the savage blond barbarians - proud Nordic warriors whose women were renowned throughout the empire for their startling beauty. War yields captives — and captives in those less civilized times were forced into slavery, made to obey and to serve their Roman masters. This is the story of the wild debauchery and the sensual decadence that flourished from Rome itself to the farthest reaches of the expansive empire.
Views: 758

Helm

After global devastation, the last remnants of Earth sent a handful of colonists of a distant terraformed world to give humanity one last, desperate chance. Unable to provide the technology required for an advanced civilization, the founders instilled in the colonists a strict code of conduct and gave them a few precious imprinting devices: glass helmets that contain all of Earth's scientific knowledge. Once in a generation, the heir to the province of Laal begins the arduous training required to survive the imprinting of the Glass Helm and acquire the knowledge of the lost Earth. But Leland de Laal, the youngest son of one of Agatsu's greatest leaders, has climbed the forbidden rock spire where the Helm is kept and donned it, unaware that its knowledge has a terrible price. To an unprepared mind, it brings madness, agony, and even death.
Views: 756

The Target

Coulter continues the suspense-filled series she began with The Cove (1996) and The Maze (1997), even bringing in some of the same characters. Her latest is set in the Colorado mountains, where Judge Ramsey Hunt has fled to recuperate after being forced to shoot a man during a melee in his courtroom. But his dream of peace and quiet is shattered when he discovers an unconscious, beaten, and sexually abused little girl who is too traumatized to speak. Reluctant to subject her to any more terror, Ramsey refrains from going to the authorities and cares for her himself. But once again, violence intrudes, first when two gunmen attempt to take the girl, and then when her mother, Molly, appears, ready to kill the man she believes is the kidnapper. Miraculously, Emma regains her voice in the nick of time, so Molly and Ramsey join forces and attempt to solve the mystery of her abduction. Emma is a target for any of a number of reasons--her father is a famous rock star with a gambling problem, and her grandfather is a Chicago Mob boss--and Coulter, who doesn't stint on humor or romance, keeps readers guessing.
Views: 751

Igraine the Brave

In the spirit of DRAGON RIDER and THE THIEF LORD, an enchanting fairy tale told with Cornelia's trademark warmth and wit: Perfect Funke fare for readers in the middle grades--Cornelia's "sweet spot"! Igraine dreams of becoming a famous knight just like her great grandfather, but the truth is, life at the family castle is rather boring. Until the nephew of the baroness-next-door shows up. He's got a dastardly plan to capture the castle and claim as his own the wonderful singing spell books that belong to Igraine's magician parents. To make matters worse, at the very moment of the siege, her mom and dad botch a spell, turning themselves into pigs! Aided by a Gentle Giant and a Sorrowful Knight, it's up to Igraine to be brave and save the day--and the books!
Views: 751

Into the Wilderness

Weaving a tapestry of fact and fiction, Sara Donati's epic novel sweeps us into another time and place...and into the heart of a forbidden affair between an unconventional Englishwoman and an American frontiersman. It is December of 1792. Elizabeth Middleton leaves her comfortable English estate to join her family in a remote New York mountain village. It is a place unlike any she has ever experienced. And she meets a man unlike any she has ever encountered - a white man dressed like a Native American, Nathanial Booner, known to the Mohawk people as Between-Two-Lives. Determined to provide schooling for all the children of the village, she soons finds herself locked in conflict with the local slave owners as well as her own family. Interweaving the fate of the Mohawk Nation with the destiny of two lovers, Sara Donati's compelling novel creates a complex, profound, passionate portrait of an emerging America.
Views: 751

Sharpe's Triumph: Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Assaye, September 1803

From *New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the second installment in the world-renowned   Sharpe series, chronicling the rise of Richard Sharpe, a Private in His Majesty’s Army at the siege of Seringapatam.* "The greatest writer of historical adventures today." —*Washington Post* Richard Sharpe. Soldier, hero, rogue—the man you always want on your side. Born in poverty, he joined the army to escape jail and climbed the ranks by sheer brutal courage. He knows no other family than the regiment of the 95th Rifles, whose green jacket he proudly wears.
Views: 748

The Discovery

The blue box Elfangor used to create the Animorphs has been found by a kid named David. David has no idea what he has -- or what it can do. But Marco does. And when he sees David with it, he knows the Animorphs have to get that box. At any cost.
Views: 743

Chicken Soup for the Kid's Soul: 101 Stories of Courage, Hope and Laughter

Today's kids face grave issues and harder decisions than ever before. Gang warfare, violence, drugs, alcohol, smoking, pregnancy, depression and suicide have found their way into middle and elementary schools. Divorce splits apart families every day. These issues make kids feel as if they must understand and accept all the troubles of the world. Now more than ever, kids want and "need" the inspiration and hope that "Chicken Soup for the Soul" provides. In this special volume, young readers will find empowerment and encouragement to love and accept themselves, believe in their dreams, find answers to their questions and discover hope for a promising future.
Views: 739

Malachite

From the wilds of Montana emerges one last Jewel, an unknown brother burning with hatred for his father's might legacy. Malachite—as wild and untamed as the devil stallion he has vowed to vanquish. But he cannot conquer the way his Comanche blood rages for gentle mother and widow Millie Potter. For in her devoted gaze and loving arms he knows his lonely heart has finally found a home.
Views: 736

The Coffin Dancer

NYPD criminalist Lincoln Rhyme joins his beautiful protege, Amelia Sachs, in the hunt for the Coffin Dancer--an ingenious killer who changes appearance even faster than he adds to his trail of victims. They have only one clue: the madman has a tattoo of the Grim Reaper waltzing with a woman. Rhyme must rely on his wits and intuition to track the elusive murderer through New York City--knowing they have only forty-eight hours before the Coffin Dancer strikes again.
Views: 734

Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World

"Disney is so good at being good that it manifests an evil; so uniformly efficient and courteous, so dependably clean and conscientious, so unfailingly entertaining that it's unreal, and therefore is an agent of pure wickedness. . . . Disney isn't in the business of exploiting Nature so much as striving to improve upon it, constantly fine-tuning God's work." --from TEAM RODENT TEAM RODENT How Disney Devours America "Revulsion is good. Revulsion is healthy. Each of us has limits, unarticulated boundaries of taste and tolerance, and sometimes we forget where they are. Peep Land is here to remind us; a fixed compass point by which we can govern our private behavior. Because being grossed out is essential to the human experience; without a perceived depravity, we'd have nothing against which to gauge the advance or decline of culture; our art, our music, our cinema, our books. Without sleaze, the yardstick shrinks at both ends. Team Rodent doesn't believe in sleaze, however, nor in old-fashioned revulsion. Square in the middle is where it wants us all to be, dependable consumers with predictable attitudes. The message, never stated but avuncularly implied, is that America's values ought to reflect those of the Walt Disney Company, and not the other way around."
Views: 730

The End of Imagination

The End of Imagination brings together five of Arundhati Roy's acclaimed books of essays into one comprehensive volume for the first time and features a new introduction by the author. This new collection begins with her pathbreaking book The Cost of Livingpublished soon after she won the Booker Prize for her novel The God of Small Thingsin which she forcefully condemned India s nuclear tests and its construction of enormous dam projects that continue to displace countless people from their homes and communities. The End of Imagination also includes her nonfiction works Power Politics, War Talk, Public Power in the Age of Empire, and An Ordinary Person s Guide to Empire, which include her widely circulated and inspiring writings on the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the need to confront corporate power, and the hollowing out of democratic institutions globally."
Views: 726