Joel's rural life of
high school and farming in Common, New Mexico, is changed forever when
Tom comes to town. The son of a preacher, Tom reaches out to Joel in
friendship, and their bond to each other becomes as tight as brothers.
Joel's openness to his own feelings and acceptance of himself (a healthy
trait instilled by his loving parents) allows him to explore some new
and confusing feelings he has for Tom. His confusion clears, however,
after a reckless drinking bout ends with a very public kiss from Tom.
But Tom's torment of sin and self-incrimination are far from over.
Common Sons, the first in a series entitled "Common Threads in the
Life," is a moving tale of self-discovery, love, and finding the courage
to come out and come to grips with the truth in the face of hatred and
adversity. Views: 79
A new spin on the classic smart-girl-and-bad-boy setup, this witty contemporary romance shows how easily a friendship – even one built on an elaborate lie – can become so much more.Jenny meets Chance for the very first time when she is assigned as his partner in their Junior Oral Communications class. But after they rescue a doomed assignment with one clever lie, the whole school is suddenly convinced that Little-Miss-Really-Likes-Having-A's and the most scandalous heartbreaker in school have been best friends forever. It's amazing how quickly a lie can grow—especially when you really, really want it to be the truth. With Jenny, Chance can live the normal life he's always kind of wanted. And with Chance, Jenny can have the exciting teen experiences that TV shows and movies have always promised. Through it all, they hold on to the fact that they are "just friends." But that might be the biggest lie of all.Debut author Tiffany Pitcock... Views: 78
A stunningly ambitious work from one of the UK's most influential playwrights.Someone sneezes. Someone can't get a signal. Someone shares a secret. Someone won't answer the door. Someone put an elephant on the stairs. Someone's not ready to talk. Someone is her brother's mother. Someone hates irrational numbers. Someone told the police. Someone got a message from the traffic light. Someone's never felt like this before.In this fast-moving kaleidoscope, more than a hundred characters try to make sense of what they know. Premiered at the Royal Court in September 2012.'This exhilarating theatrical kaleidoscope... What is extraordinary about Churchill is her capacity as a dramatist to go on reinventing the wheel' The Guardian'The wit, invention and structural integrity of Churchill's work are remarkable... She never does the same thing twice' The Telegraph'A wonderful web of complex emotions, memories, secrets and facts' A Younger Theatre Views: 77
Lawrence Norfolk's In the Shape of a Boar is a juggernaut of a novel, an epic tour de force of love and betrayal, ancient myths and modern horrors. The story begins in the ancient world of mythic Greece, where a dark tale of treachery and destructive love unfolds amid the hunt for the Boar of Kalydon -- a tale that will reverberate in those same hills across the millennia in the final chaotic months of World War II, as a band of Greek partisans pursues an S.S. officer on a mission of vengeance. After the war, a young Jewish Romanian refugee, Solomon Memel, who was among the hunters will create a poem based on the experience, which becomes an international literary sensation. But the truth of what happened in the hills of Kalydon in 1945 is more complicated than it seems, and as the older Sol reunites with his childhood love in 1970s Paris, the dark memories and horrors of those days will emerge anew. ".... classical Greek culture and twentieth-century barbarism, the nature of... Views: 77
Reluctant psychic Charlie Greene is called on to solve the case when a horror-film director gets the ax—and Charlie's mother is the prime suspect Between doing lunches, making deals, and being a full-time single mom, Hollywood literary agent and part-time psychic Charlie Greene doesn't have time to solve crimes. But when the number-one suspect in the murder of schlock horror director Gordon Cabot is her menopausal mother, Charlie suddenly finds herself a major player in a real-life movie more shocking than any screenwriter could have dreamed up. Cabot's callous disregard for the teeming plant life and critters serving as extras in his overbudget new film has made him plenty of enemies, including Charlie's mother, a biology professor specializing in rodents of the high-desert plateau. In spite of their volatile relationship, Charlie's certain that her mother's hot flashes have nothing to do with the corpse chilling out in this remote stretch of... Views: 76
Jennifer Hunter is an expert on men. She can tell if they're single, married or lying... She runs a company which specialises in conducting fidelity inspections for those who suspect their loved ones are capable of infidelity. Boyfriend behaving badly? Suspect your husband of straying? Then Jennifer can supply the ultimate test. Some might call it entrapment but to Jennifer it's business pure and simple. And business is booming. But every success brings inevitable backlash and with each new challenge, Jen finds it harder and harder to stay in "retirement," despite the promises she has made to her new boyfriend, Jamie to leave the actual 'seductions' to her employees. Unfortunately, Jamie is one of the few men that Jennifer's never been able to 'read'. But after seeing so many men fail the fidelity tests, can Jennifer let herself believe in one good man? Views: 76
The Last Great Dance on Earth is the triumphant final volume of Sandra Gulland's beloved trilogy based on the life of Josephine Bonaparte. When the novel opens, Josephine and Napoleon have been married for four tumultuous years. Napoleon is Josephine's great love, and she his. But their passionate union is troubled from within, as Josephine is unable to produce an heir, and from without, as England makes war against France and Napoleon's Corsican clan makes war against his wife. Through Josephine's heartfelt diary entries, we witness the personal betrayals and political intrigues that will finally drive them apart, culminating in Josephine's greatest tragedy: her divorce from Napoleon and his exile to Elba. The Last Great Dance on Earth is historical fiction on a grand scale and the stirring conclusion to an unforgettable love story.From Publishers WeeklyGulland completes her elaborately detailed Josephine Bonaparte trilogy (The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.; Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe), taking up the story in 1800 at Paris's Tuileries Palace, where 36-year-old Josephine and her younger husband, Napoleon (who has just become France's First Consul), are desperately trying to conceive. Despite numerous questionable "cures," Josephine remains barren. Her daughter from her first marriage, Hortense, marries Napoleon's brother and produces a son Napoleon wishes to adopt in order to establish a hereditary succession. When this plan fails, advisers claim Napoleon's authority has been weakened. As Napoleon and Josephine rise to power, ultimately being crowned emperor and empress, Gulland does a remarkable job of showing how rumors and disloyalties changed the course of history. Under increasing pressure to produce an heir, Napoleon divorces the heartbroken Josephine, calling the act a noble sacrifice they both must make for the Empire. Napoleon remarries, and a son is born; soon after, he leaves for his unsuccessful invasion of Russia, his last campaign before abdication and exile. Josephine dies shortly thereafter, in 1814, ending her life with thoughts of Napoleon. Florid prose floods the tale, and the diary style of the first-person narrative is limiting, but neither of these problems seriously handicaps the novel. Gulland brings to life an exciting period in Europe's past through the eyes of one of its most famous women. The popularity of the first two installments assures an avid following, but this meticulously researched tale stands alone as a romance of epic proportions. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. From BooklistIn the final installment of her acclaimed Josephine Bonaparte trilogy, Gulland chronicles both the marriage of Josephine and Napoleon and the rise and fall of Napoleon's vast empire. Recounted strictly from a woman's point of view, the gripping narrative offers a uniquely feminine perspective on a tumultuous historical era. An active participant in the momentous events of her day, Josephine bears witness to the treachery and political intrigue plaguing her husband's controversial reign. Of course, the passionate, tempestuous relationship between Josephine and Napoleon, two equally remarkable and charismatic individuals, forms the core of this romantic odyssey. A vividly detailed fictional portrait of one of the most fascinating women to influence the course of history. Margaret FlanaganCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Views: 75
From Publishers WeeklyJust as the 20th century dawned with an unparalleled optimism regarding the moral, social and scientific progress of humanity, it ended with an unshakeable confidence in the promises of technology and the power of free-market economics to deliver a better life for all humankind. British journalist Watson's (War on the Mind; The Caravaggio Conspiracy; etc.) panoramic survey traces various 20th-century ideas and their power to bend and shape society and individuals. At a frenetic pace, he gallops through the modern intellectual landscape, pausing long enough to graze the founts of philosophy (from Wittgenstein to Richard Rorty to Alasdair MacIntyre), literature (Kafka, Woolf, Mann, Rushdie), literary criticism (F.R. Leavis to Jacques Derrida), art (Picasso to Warhol), economics (Milton Friedman to John Kenneth Galbraith), science (Linus Pauling to E.O. Wilson) and film (D.W. Griffiths to Fran?ois Truffaut). He also briefly examines the significance of a wide range of political and cultural movements, such as socialism, communism, fascism, feminism and environmentalism. Watson's rich narrative covers every corner of intellectual life in the 20th century, yet the style is so breezy and anecdotal that it lacks the deep learned elegance of a history of ideas by, for example, Isaiah Berlin or Jacques Barzun. Unfortunately, for all the book's breadth, Watson's workmanlike approach has the feel of a handful of school assignments cobbled together from encyclopedia articles rather than of work drawn from years of thoughtful reflection and an intimate acquaintance with, and love of, ideas. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalIn this long and astonishing narrative, British journalist Watson presents an unconventional history of the 20th century, which, he argues, "has been dominated by a coming to terms with science." Although this massive volume is packed with a multitude of events, ideas, and influential people, Watson's infectious writing carries the reader swiftly along. The mosaic he creates can best be illustrated by this typical sentence: "On 25 October 1900, only days after Max Planck sent his crucial equations on a postcard to Heinrich Rubens, Pablo Picasso stepped off the Barcelona train at the Gare d'Orsay in Paris." In 42 chapters, Watson travels from Freud to the Internet, from pragmatism and relativity to Brave New World and Hiroshima, while considering the impact of the arts, existentialism, feminism, sexuality, genetics, medicine, the Great Society, race, AIDS, and more. Key people and ideas are highlighted. It is hard to spot any major omissions, though post-World War II music seems to get overlooked. While this work is reminiscent of Paul Johnson's Modern Times (LJ 5/1/83), Watson's scope goes far beyond politics and history. This book will be read and consulted for many years. Thomas A. Karel, Franklin & Marshall Coll. Lib., Lancaster, PA Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 75
Sunny tries to shine despite his troubled past in this third novel in the critically acclaimed Track series from National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds.Ghost. Patina. Sunny. Lu. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team—a team that could qualify them for the Junior Olympics if they can get their acts together. They all have a lot to lose, but they also have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves. Sunny is just that—sunny. Always ready with a goofy smile and something nice to say, Sunny is the chillest dude on the Defenders team. Not even running the mile makes him break a sweat. But Sunny's life hasn't always been bright and easy. His mother died during childbirth, and now it's just Sunny and his dad. His dad keeps him close, having Sunny homeschooled and driving him to and from track practice every day.... Views: 74
Corona An awesome, sentinent force of protostars -- Corona -- has taken control of a stranded team of Vulcan scientists. The U.S.S Enterprise has come on a rescue mission, with a female reporter and a new computer that can override Kirk's command. Suddenly, the rescuers must save themselves and the entire Universe -- before Corona unleashes a Big Bang! Views: 74
***Favorite Paranormal Romance Winner 2015 at Evocative Book Reviews*** The Krieger are the ancient race of warriors who police the vampires, and it is their job to put a stop to the attacks against their kind. Ashby, one of the Krieger, is suddenly mated to the most beautiful, red-haired vixen that has ever walked the face of the Earth. Protecting her will be his number one priority. Views: 73
