Austerlitz, the internationally acclaimed masterpiece by “one of the most gripping writers imaginable” (The New York Review of Books), is the story of a man’s search for the answer to his life’s central riddle. A small child when he comes to England on a Kindertransport in the summer of 1939, one Jacques Aus-terlitz is told nothing of his real family by the Welsh Methodist minister and his wife who raise him. When he is a much older man, fleeting memories return to him, and obeying an instinct he only dimly understands, he follows their trail back to the world he left behind a half century before. There, faced with the void at the heart of twentieth-century Europe, he struggles to rescue his heritage from oblivion.
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 849
*A wizard, a mender of pots, a king, a dragon, and a burnt girl face the power of the dead. *
The sorcerer Alder fears sleep. He dreams of the land of death, of his wife who died young and longs to return to him so much that she kissed him across the low stone wall that separates our world from the Dry Land--where the grass is withered, the stars never move, and lovers pass without knowing each other. The dead are pulling Alder to them at night. Through him they may free themselves and invade Earthsea.
Alder seeks advice from Ged, once Archmage, Ged tells him to go to Tenar, Tehanu, and the young king at Havnor. They are joined by amber-eyed Irian, a fierce dragon able to assume the shape of a woman.
This group can confront the threat only in the Immanent Grove on Roke. Joining them, Alder, a mender of pots, may be the only one who can mend the world. Views: 846
Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny used to live alone in a boxcar. Now they have a home with their grandfather, and they’re going to visit his old school with him! The Aldens are spending a weekend at Goldwin University for Grandfather’s college reunion. The Alden children are immediately fascinated by the tall, mysterious clock tower that overshadowed the campus. They soon learn the valuable secret from the past lies hidden somewhere at the old school—and they think the clock tower might hold the key to discovering it! But there are strange lights coming form the clock tower at night. Is the tower haunted by ghosts of the past? Or is someone else searching for the secret of Goldwin University? The Boxcar Children are convinced that someone at the school is not what he or she seems—and they are determined to find out who it is! Views: 843
In his more than three dozen books, Elmore Leonard has captured the imagination of millions of readers as few writers can. A literary icon praised by The New York Times Book Review as "the greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever," he has influenced many contemporary writers and is known for both the quality and the accessibility of his writing.
In this collection of new and recently published short fiction, Leonard demonstrates the superb characterizations, dead-on dialogue, vivid atmosphere, and driving plotting that have made him a household name. And once more this master of crime illustrates that the line between the law and the lawbreakers is not as firm as we might think.
Federal marshal Karen Sisco, from the bestselling novel Out of Sight, returns in "Karen Makes Out," once again inadvertently mixing pleasure with business. In "Fire in the Hole," Raylan Givens, last seen in Riding the Rap and Pronto, meets up with an old friend, but they're now on different sides of the law. In the title story, "When the Women Come Out to Dance," Mrs. Mahmood gets more than she bargains for when she conspires with her maid to end her unhappy marriage. In all nine stories -- each unique in their own right -- reluctant heroes and laid-back lowlifes struggle for power, survival, and their fifteen minutes of fame.
Vivid, hilarious, and unfailingly human, these stories ring true with Elmore Leonard's signature deadpan social observations and diabolical eye for the foibles of the good guys and the bad. Views: 842
Best-selling author Michael Morpurgo turns his storytelling skills to the drama and tragedy of the Spanish Civil War, illustrated by Michael Foreman.
TORO,TORO is the story of a young boy growing up in Andalucia, Spain, on a farm rearing bulls for the bull ring. Antonito hand rears a little black calf and they become firm friends, but the boy doesn't yet understand the fate of the black bulls – the corrida and death. Later, when he learns of the horrors of the bull fight, he frees Paco, the black bull, and rides with him into the hills.There they witness the bombing of their village (it's the year 1936, and the Spanish Civil War has started) and Antonito cannot go back – his family and the farm are destroyed, and Paco has run off, wild with fright. He decides to stay in the hills, where he meets up with the Resistance fighters. During the War, Antonito hears stories round the campfire of the wonderful black bull, who becomes a symbol of freedom for them all. Could this really be Paco? But no-one has ever seen him. After the war, when Antonito is working as a muleteer in the mountains, he falls asleep and dreams of Paco. In the morning, he wakes to see hoof prints on the ground beside him…
A delightful story, full of nostalgia and drama in the author's own inimitable style. Illustrated by Michael Foreman. Views: 839
Meet Jake Drake.
He's not the toughest kid in fourth grade or the fastest kid or the funniest. But he's got ideas -- big ideas, and boy, does he have stories to tell about what really goes on in school. Like bullies, for instance. Jake wants to know "if everybody who works at school is so smart, how come they can't get rid of the bullies?...Because every year, it's the same thing. Bullies."
So it's up to Jake Drake to take matters into his own hands when Link Baxter, SuperBully, moves into the neighborhood. Link's reign of terror must be stopped...if only Jake can figure out how.
In this new series by the bestselling author of Frindle, The Landry News, and The Janitor's Boy, Jake Drake confronts the problems of school life and finds some surprising solutions! Views: 837
Two centuries into the future, the Hundred Concerns, a group of powerful corporations that dominate galactic commerce, have pressured the Commonwealth of Humans into signing a pact with the Haluk, a conquering alien race with nefarious designs. Among the few people who recognize the malevolent intent of the aliens is hotheaded maverick Helly Frost.
To prove that the Haluk have created demiclones--genetically engineered individuals who are perfect human replicas--Helly travels to the Sagittarius Whorl, a fearsome region of the galaxy hostile to every form of life. But he must find crucial pieces of evidence that will expose the Haluk plot. Instead, he discovers something far darker than he had ever imagined. . . . Views: 836
Grandfather and the children are visiting Broken Moon Pond, where Grandfather used to vacation as a child. The children are enchanted by the beautiful wilderness. But they soon encounter a strange set of coincidences, mishaps, and mysteries. Views: 835
His Excellency Global Community Potentate Nicolae Carpathia, no longer pretending to be a pacifist, has ordered every Morale Monitor armed as he prepares to travel along the Via Dolorosa and then onward to the temple, where shocking surprises await. The lines are drawn between good and evil as God inflicts sores upon the flesh of those who have taken the mark. Meanwhile His chosen ones flee to Petra, where they watch anxiously as GC fighter planes appear overhead and bombs begin to fall. A repackage of the ninth book in the "New York Times" best-selling Left Behind series. Views: 832
A new volume of three novels–previously published separately by Anchor–by Naguib Mahfouz, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Together with The Beggar, The Thief and The Dogs, and Autumn Quail* *(published by Anchor in December 2000), these novels represent a comprehensive collection of Mahfouz’s artful meditations on post-revolution Egypt. Diverse in style and narrative technique, they render a nuanced and universally resonant vision of modern life in the Middle East.
Respected Sir, “a latter-day Bleak House in Arabic” (The New York Times), revisits a familiar theme–vaulting ambition–in a powerful and religious metaphor. Wedding Song, “one of Mahfouz’s most enjoyable works” (The Chicago Tribune), is a psychological drama, focusing on how four very different kinds of minds apprehend and reckon with the realities that surround them. The Search is a powerful, lurid, and compelling story of lust, greed, and murder. Views: 830
Brilliantly written, a work of impeccable scholarship. An utterly riveting and intensely moving book by one of our finest biographers.
Never before has the life of Marie Antoinette been told so intimately and with such authority as in Antonia Fraser's newest work, Marie Antoinette: The Journey. Famously known as the eighteenth-century French queen whose excesses have become legend, Marie Antoinette was blamed for instigating the French Revolution. But the story of her journey begun as a fourteen-year-old sent from Vienna to marry the future Louis XVI to her courageous defense before she was sent to the guillotine reveals a woman of greater complexity and character than we have previously understood. We stand beside Marie Antoinette and witness the drama of her life as she becomes a scapegoat of the Ancien Regime when her faults were minor in comparison to the punishments inflicted on her.
The youngest daughter, fifteenth out of sixteen children, of Austrian empress Maria Teresa and Francis I, Marie Antoinette was sent on a literal journey by her mother from Vienna to Versailles with the expectation that she would further Austrian interests at all times. Yet, Marie Antoinette was by nature far from interested in state affairs and much more inclined to exert a gracious, philanthropic role, patronizing the arts especially music, as royalty would come to behave in the nineteenth century. Despite this the French accused her of political interference and wrote scandalous tracts against her, mocking her lack of sophistication. Meanwhile, longing for a family and the birth of an heir who would have cemented the Franco-Austro alliance, the French queen had to endure more than eight years of public humiliation for her barren marriage before the delivery of her first of four children.
As these problems unfold, Antonia Fraser also weaves a richly detailed account of Marie Antoinette's other, more poignant journey: from the ill-educated and unprepared girl who sought refuge in pleasure as a consolation into a magnificent, courageous woman who defied her enemies at her trial with consummate intelligence, arousing the admiration of even the most hostile revolutionaries.
Brilliantly written, Marie Antoinette is a work of impeccable scholarship. Drawing on a wealth of family letters and other archival materials, Antonia Fraser successfully avoids the hagiography of some the French queen's admirers and the misogyny of many of her critics. The result is an utterly riveting and intensely moving book by one of our finest biographers. Views: 830
1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Garwood takes readers from New Orleans' exclusive Garden District to the backwoods of Louisiana's mysterious bayou country in an unforgettable novel of passion and suspense that cuts straight to the heart.
When esteemed Justice Department attorney Theo Buchanan is struck ill at a New Orleans gala, Dr. Michelle Renard works fast to save his life. Soon, Theo finds himself in a race to save her when Michelle is targeted by a deadly crime ring. They call themselves the Sowing Club, a devious foursome driven by greed to accumulate millions in a secret bank account. Now they're dead set on silencing Michelle, who might know the secret behind the killing of one of their wives. Dodging a world-class hit man and a band of cunning criminals, Michelle and Theo walk a narrow path between passion and survival. Views: 829
From the author of such American epics as the Kent Family Chronicles and the North and South trilogy comes this special anthology of frontier fiction--featuring three brand new stories and a special introduction by the author. Views: 823
There's a thief at MontroseMiddle School. Teachers are reporting money mysteriously missing from their desks. Who's responsible? Could it be Ashley Krupps, the principal's spoiled daughter? She's been spotted recently at the mall splurging on trendy clothes. Or is it Max, who shows up at school one day sporting expensive basketball shoes? Maybe it's Kevin, Jenny's new boyfriend. He's unexpectedly begun to lavish her with extravagant gifts. The Snob Squad is on the case and their suspicions stop at no one - not even each other. Views: 822
In a world where women hold all the power, a titled man can do little but accept his fate -- that his sole purpose is to secure a good match -- and hope his "bed price" is high enough. Jorlan Reynard has every trait necessary for that price -- he is staggeringly handsome. Irresistible. Wildly sensual. But he is also impossibly willful.The brash male refuses to be taken by just any woman merely because she can afford him.
Only one -- the Marquelle Green Tamryn -- can claim him. In a bold move, the powerful aristocrat marries him, offering him the security of her name and position, But there are forces conspiring against her, and the Marquelle must summon all her considerable influence to fight for their survival. However, he is not only a passionate lover, but an unexpectedly powerful ally...and soon, the full truth of his remarkable abilities will begin to be revealed to all -- in the "Ritual of Proof." Views: 821
