Josh and Jessica are having the BEST time staying with their cool Japanese gran in Tokyo. They've been practising their fighting skills with a top-secret team of ninja spies, and now they're acting as bodyguards for Shini Hanzo, the hottest footballer around - which means celeb parties and free stadium tours! But hanging out with Shini is dangerous work, as Josh and Jessica have to protect him from surprise attacks and sabotage. And if they can't work out who's playing dirty, the big match could be a BIG disaster! Views: 18
In 19th Century New Zealand, there are few choices for a farm girl like Amy. Her life seems mapped out for her by the time she is twelve. Amy dreams of an exciting life in the world beyond her narrow boundaries. But it is the two people who come to the farm from outside the valley who change her life forever, and Amy learns the high cost of making the wrong choice. Book 1 of Promises to Keep. Views: 18
Jake left Jenny at the alter two years ago with no warning after a beautiful
relationship. Nursing her broken heart, Jenny has moved on and left the memory
of Jake behind. Now he's back, and he's meddling in the life she's made for
herself. Jenny will always love Jake, but she isn't going to let him hurt her
again. Jake had no choice when he left Jenny behind with no word, but he still
loves her and now, he's going to get her back. Views: 18
It is 1792 and Viscount Beaumont has buried himself in the country since his wife died. But now his daughter, Lady Henrietta, has come of age and he must squire her in her London Season.Verity Garnier is an actress whose father has been thrown in a French dungeon. To free him she must deliver Viscount, Anthony Beaumont in trade. She travels to London to seduce Beaumont into following her to France. She doesn't plan on falling in love.When Beaumont goes on his own to France to save his brother-in-law from the guillotine, Verity follows him, reluctantly taking along his daughter who refuses to be left behind.After soldiers of the Revolution capture Beaumont and his brother-in-law, Verity, and Henrietta must find a way to save them.Christian Hartley, a British agent that Henrietta plans to marry, joins their fight.Will everyone find a safe way home, or will they face the guillotine?This is an adventure not to be missed. The excitement mounts as danger appears around every corner. The... Views: 18
Best known for his academt award-winning role as Dith Pran in "The Killing Fields", for Haing Ngor his greatest performance was not in Hollywood but in the rice paddies and labour camps of war-torn Cambodia. Here, in his memoir of life under the Khmer Rouge, is a searing account of a country's descent into hell. His was a world of war slaves and execution squads, of senseless brutality and mind-numbing torture; where families ceased to be and only a very special love could soar above the squalor, starvation and disease. An eyewitness account of the real killing fields by an extraordinary survivor, this book is a reminder of the horrors of war - and a testament to the enduring human spirit. Views: 18
From one of America's greatest men of letters, our sublime master of manners, comes his long-awaited new novel, HER INFINITE VARIETY. Louis Auchincloss has been called "our most astute observer of moral paradox among the affluent" (Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.), his fiction described as that which "has always examined what makes life worth living" (Washington Post Book World). Now he brings us the rollicking tale of an unforgettable woman of mid-twentieth century America: the devilish, forever plotting, yet wholly beguiling Clara Hoyt. A romantic early in life, Clara gets engaged -- much to her mother's horror -- to the lackluster Bobbie Lester. Soon after her Vassar graduation, however, Clara sees the error of her ways, spurns Bobbie, and slyly enthralls the well-bred and fabulously wealthy Trevor Hoyt, the first of her husbands. Soon she lands a job at a tony magazine, and so begins her wildly entertaining course to the inner sanctum of New York's aristocracy and into the boardrooms of the publishing world.In a world where women still had to wield the weapons of allure and charm, above all else, to secure positions of power, Clara, one of the last of her kind, succeeds marvelously. Auchincloss gives us, in Clara, an irresistible Cleopatra, lovely, wily, and mercurial. As Shakespeare wrote of that feminine creation, "Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale / Her infinite variety."From Publishers WeeklyOver the course of his long career, Auchincloss (The Education of Oscar Fairfax, etc.) has always excelled in portraying women of the upper class. In the past, his female characters were often anachronistic members of a society whose strict rules of conduct and social acceptance were ceasing to matter. Here he transcends himself with an astute and witty novel about a woman who disdains the old values of money and class in favor of a feminine meritocracy in the world of business. As becomes abundantly clear in her brilliant rise to power, however, Clara Longcope Hoyt Tyler is skilled at using her beauty to open doors and secure advancement. The bright, strong-willed, refreshingly spirited daughter of a Yale professor and a domineering, socially obsessed mother, Vassar undergrad Clara almost makes a disastrous marriage to a man whose career would limit her opportunities. Practicality wins out; instead, she marries wealthy, complacent Trevor Hoyt, whose New York banking family soon stifles her career plans. Caught in an affair while Trevor is in Europe during WWII (and indulging in his own extramarital liaisons), Clara spurns his forgiveness, his money and his social position to strike out on her own. As an editor on a chic fashion magazine, she becomes adept at playing a man's game of ruthless opportunism and frank ambition while employing her beauty to snare the devotion of media mogul Eric Tyler, who eventually installs her as vice-president of Tyler Publications. When their marriage and her micromanaging incur the animosity of Tyler's son and heir, cynical and increasingly belligerent Clara involves the family in a power struggle, from which she emerges victorious. Auchincloss's attitude toward his heroine is interesting. Initially, he seems empathetic, demonstrating that during the 1940s and '50s, smart, determined yet idealistic women like Clara were forced to use feminine wiles to fulfill their potential. But after Clara asks herself again and again if she is a monster, acknowledging her cold heart and inability to love (she treats even her daughter with cool distance), one senses that the author has come to dislike his creation and to despise her moral failings. In any case, his unsparing portrait of an ambitious woman has vitality and credibility, and it voices truths with elegant precision. Agent, Andrew Pope. (Aug.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalWell, I don't know about variety. Clara Hoyt seems like a pretty typical young, striving aristocratic woman earlier in this century, when the clear path to coldblooded success was to marry well. Clara's move after Vassar to her first marriage to a good society match is expected, but when World War II intervenes and her husband is posted abroad, she has an affair with (egad!) a left-leaning journalist. He dies in Europe, her marriage eventually gives way, and she moves on with a magazine career of her own. This allows her to break up the marriage of her boss and eventually inherit his fortune. Billed as a novel of manners, Auchincloss's 56th book is a two-dimensional view of New York society life that breezes quickly through a few decades but offers no real insight into the human experience. Not recommented.Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 18
HUMANS OR HEMNOIDS: AN UNBEARABLE CHOICE Planet Dilbia is in a crucial location for both humans and their adversaries, the Hemnoids. Therefore making friends with the Dilbians and establishing a human presence there is of the utmost importance, which may be a problem, since the bearlike Dilbians stand some nine feet tall, and have a high regard for physical prowess. They’re not impressed by human technology, either. A real man, er, bear doesn’t need machines to do his work for him. But Dilbians “are” impressed by sharp thinking, and some have expressed a grudging admiration for the logical (and usually sneaky) mental maneuvers that the human “shorties” have used to get themselves out of desperate jams. Just maybe that old human craftiness will win over the Dilbians to the human side. If not, we lose a nexus, and the Dilbians will learn just how unbearable Hemnoids can be…. Views: 18
Torn from the universe by an insatiable cosmic vortex, Earth is trapped in the grotesque parody of reality called the Maelstrom -- along with thousands of other planets, millions of species, billions of warring creatures...all swirling toward ultimate destruction.EARTH'S LAST HOPEThe Mars colonists watch, helpless, as the Maelstrom anomaly swallows Earth. Yet Dr. David Hutchins's horror is offset by scientific curiosity, and somehow he manages to tether a probe connecting our solar system to the Maelstrom. Now David, pilot Raedawn Corona, a Neo-Soviet POW named Boris, and a telepathic alien have only one desperate chance to bring Earth home. But the Union and Neo-Soviets must be willing to cooperate before the anomaly closes -- and before evil species from the Pharons to the Shard seize the escape route for themselves... Views: 18
Eviction Notice, is a raucous, science fiction adventure about Alice Able, a small town woman at the end of her rope who must save the Earth from space aliens trying to evict humanity into deep space.Alice's basic earnestness and sincerity, and that of the characters directly around her, drives her transformation from hopelessness to hero.Eviction Notice is packed with comic missteps, alien abductions, romantic revival, space battles, invisible lawyers, rednecks with super powers, and lost alien cargo. Views: 18
In leading an expedition through the many-layered Jovian atmosphere in the hydrogen balloon craft Kon-Tiki, Captain Howard Falcon discovers a world where bioluminescent air plankton produce brilliant atmospheric sea-fire, predatory manta-ray creatures dominate the skies, and enormous jellyfish-like beings grow to be over a mile across.The title story of this fourth collection from one of the genre’s most celebrated authors ends with a twist—that leaves the reader questioning what it means to be human. This collection contains some of the author’s most acclaimed short fiction, including “Cosmic Casanova” and “Sleeping Beauty”—stories that delight, surprise, and lead readers to ask big questions about humanity’s role in the cosmos.ABOUT THE AUTHORClarke is widely revered as one of the most influential science fiction writers of the 20th century, esteemed alongside Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein, a trio known informally as the “Big Three.” Before his death in 2008, he authored more than 100 novels, novellas, and short story collections and laid the groundwork for science fiction as we know it today. Combining scientific knowledge and visionary literary aptitude, Clarke’s work explored the implications of major scientific discoveries in astonishingly inventive and mystical settings.Clarke’s short stories and novels have won numerous Hugo and Nebula Awards, have been translated into more than 30 languages, and have sold millions of copies worldwide. Several of his books, including 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: Odyssey II, have been adapted into films that still stand as classic examples of the genre. Without a doubt, Arthur C. Clarke is one of the most important voices in contemporary science fiction literature. Views: 18
Owen Foote wants to be a real scientist with a white lab coat. He'd like to spend the next school year in Mr. Wozniak's fourth-grade class, where science is king. Owen figures that Mr. Wozniak will let him and his friend Joseph in if they can win first prize in the school science fair. But the project," a uromastyx lizard named Chuck, isn't exactly cooperative. The boys come up with another idea that seems like a winner, but once again, unruly personal feelings seem to be undermining the scientific method. It takes an inspired blend of science and friendship to get them back on track.Fast-paced and funny, this new story treats themes of competition, ambition, squeamishness, and loyalty in the appealing style Owen Foote fans have come to expect. Views: 18
