Meet New York Times bestselling author Isabel Allende's most enchanting creation, Eva Luna: a lover, a writer, a revolutionary, and above all a storyteller—available for the first time in ebook.Eva Luna is the daughter of a professor's assistant and a snake-bitten gardener—born poor, orphaned at an early age, and working as a servant. Eva is a naturally gifted and imaginative storyteller who meets people from all stations and walks of life. Though she has no wealth, she trades her stories like currency with people who are kind to her. In this novel, she shares the story of her own life and introduces readers to a diverse and eccentric cast of characters including the Lebanese émigré who befriends her and takes her in; her unfortunate godmother, whose brain is addled by rum and who believes in all the Catholic saints and a few of her own invention; a street urchin who grows into a petty criminal and, later, a leader in the guerrilla struggle; a... Views: 727
The body, at least what was left of it, was drifting in Havana Bay the morning Arkady arrived from Moscow. Only the day before, he had received an urgent message from the Russian embassy in Havana that his friend Pribluda was missing and asking that he come.
The Cubans insisted that this corpse floating in an inner tube was Pribluda, but Arkady wasn't so sure.
"You don't investigate assault, you don't investigate murder. Just what do you investigate?" Arkady asks Ofelia Osorio, a detective in the Policia Nacional de la Revolucion. "Or is it simply open season on Russians in Havana?"
The comrades of the Cold War have parted bitterly, and the Russians who used to swarm through Havana's streets are now as rare as they are despised, much more so than Americans.
Havana is overrun with color, music, and suspicion. The Revolution's heroes have outlived idealism. The Com-munist world has shrunk to Cuba. Paradise has become a stop on sex tours. It is a city of empty stores and talking drums, Karl Marx and sharp machetes, where an American radical rides around in Hemingway's car to tout island investments and a Wall Street developer on the run from the FBI flies a pirate flag.
"A dead Russian, a live Russian," Ofelia says. "What's the difference?"
But the dead Russian is followed by the murders of a Cuban boxer and a prostitute. Although none of them is supposed to be investigated, Arkady cannot be stopped. He speaks no Spanish, knows nothing about Cuba, and, as a Russian, is a pariah. However, there is something about this faded, lovely, dangerous city--the rhythms of waves against the seawall, the insinuation of music always in the air, and, finally, Ofelia herself--that plunges Arkady back into life.
"What ultimately sets the Renko books apart is the careful writing, and, more important, the knowledge of the human heart that is carried through it, through them, first to last."–Chicago Tribune Views: 725
"A great, fun, romping collection of stories." —San Francisco Book Review "This volume's diverse list of well-known and rising stars . . . makes it a welcome addition to the 'Best American' series." —Washington Post "A powerful collection that is worth your time, attention, and love." —Tor In its inaugural edition, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy featured a diverse array of authors, stories, and sources. John Joseph Adams scours the magazine racks and websites to find the very best stories, and this year's guest editor, Karen Joy Fowler, is sure to curate a collection that encompasses all corners of the genres. As the best-selling author of both The Jane Austen Book Club and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Fowler knows firsthand just how different one author's writing can be from work to work, and she will bring that literary sensibility to her selections. However, she is... Views: 722
The Yeerks are stepping up their invasion tactics. And Marco has problems of his own. His dad is starting to date. But Marco knows his mother might still be alive. Views: 721
Born at the beginning of the twentieth century, Henry Smart lives through the evolution of modern Ireland, and in this extraordinary novel he brilliantly tells his story. From his own birth and childhood on the streets of Dublin to his role as soldier (and lover) in the Irish Rebellion, Henry recounts his early years of reckless heroism and adventure. At once an epic, a love story, and a portrait of Irish history, A Star Called Henry is a grand picaresque novel brimming with both poignant moments and comic ones, and told in a voice that is both quintessentially Irish and inimitably Roddy Doyle's. Views: 720
'It sounded easy. Find a missing kid. Eighteen years old. Only he was dead. Died at birth. So why was his mother so sure he was still alive? Alive and calling for help. The assignment took me to Hell. And that's where I'd come from, only I didn't know it at the time. Matter of fact, there were a lot of things I didn't know about myself. I just thought I was different, not the kind you'd expect to be a private investigator. But I was wrong. Like I'd been wrong for most of my uncharmed life. Because I was more than that. And the answers were coming, coming fast and they scared me shitless. Murder, mutilation, depravity and horrors that almost OTHERS at Perfect Rest and every thought I had about life itself changed. It's a story you might hate. Because it's too close to the real truth. And it might frighten you so badly you will never sleep in an unlit room again. But it'll make you think. I promise you that. I only hope it won't make you think too much. Because that's when the nightmares will begin. Yeah, that's when everything will change. Your choice.' Views: 718
With Pandora, Anne Rice began a magnificent new series of vampire novels. Now, in the second of her New Tales of the Vampires, she tells the mesmerizing story of Vittorio, a vampire in the Italian Age of Gold.
Educated in the Florence of Cosimo de' Medici, trained in knighthood at his father's mountaintop castle, Vittorio inhabits a world of courtly splendor and country pleasures - a world suddenly threatened when his entire family is confronted by an unholy power.
In the midst of this upheaval, Vittorio is seduced by the vampire Ursula, the most beautiful of his supernatural enemies. As he sets out in pursuit of vengeance, entering the nightmarish Court of the Ruby Grail, increasingly more enchanted (and confused) by his love for the mysterious Ursula, he finds himself facing demonic adversaries, war and political intrigue.
Against a backdrop of the wonders - both sacred and profane - and the beauty and ferocity of Renaissance Italy, Anne Rice creates a passionate and tragic legend of doomed young love and lost innocence. Views: 717
Nancy is about to learn the real meaning of "Death by Chocolate"
Nancy can hardly believe it. While visiting an amusement park owned by the world-famous Royal Chocolates Company, her friend Bess tears open a million-dollar candy wrapper in a contest. But when they go to collect, they're told that someone else has won. And then they're accused of tampering with the winning wrapper!
Something is rotten in chocolatetown. The proof comes when Nancy and her friends are treated to a near-death experience in the park's animal safari. Someone's pulling a million-dollar swindle, and getting Nancy and her friends out of the way seems to be the icing on the cake. Views: 717
"I may assert Eternal Providence
And justify the ways of God to men"
John Milton was a master of almost every type of verse, from the classical to the religious and from the lyrical to the epic. His early poems include the devotional 'On the Morning of Christ's Nativity', 'Comus', a masque, and the pastoral elegy 'Lycidas'. After Cromwell's death and the dashing of Milton's political hopes, he began composing Paradise Lost, which reflects his profound understanding of politics and power. Written when Milton was at the height of his abilities, this great masterpiece fuses the Christian with the classical in its description of the fall of Man. In Samson Agonistes, Milton's last work, the poet draws a parallel with his own life in the hero's struggle to renew his faith in God.
In this edition of the Complete Poems, John Leonard draws attention to words coined by Milton and those that have changed their meaning since his time. He also provides full notes to elucidate Biblical, classical and historical allusions and has modernized spelling, capitalization and punctuation.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
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The X-Men -- mutant protectors of a world that fears and hates them. The Avengers -- Earth's mightiest heroes, the greatest super-team ever assembled. When the Scarlet Witch of the Avengers and Rogue of the X-Men all disappear under mysterious circumstances, each team's search leads them to more questions than answers.
When the X-Men appear to attack a high-security government installation, the Avengers must track down the mutants, and learn the truth behind the abductions before it's too late Views: 717
A classic work that has charmed generations of readers, this collection assembles Carson McCullers's best stories, including her beloved novella "The Ballad of the Sad Café." A haunting tale of a human triangle that culminates in an astonishing brawl, the novella introduces readers to Miss Amelia, a formidable southern woman whose café serves as the town's gathering place. Among other fine works, the collection also includes "Wunderkind," McCullers's first published story written when she was only seventeen about a musical prodigy who suddenly realizes she will not go on to become a great pianist. Newly reset and available for the first time in a handsome trade paperback edition, The Ballad of the Sad Café is a brilliant study of love and longing from one of the South's finest writers. Views: 715
Morphing into killer whales, the Animorphs discover a whole new world where humans with gills exist in the deep waters below. Views: 715
