Harry Potter has put a spell on millions of readers, and they all want to find out more about the deeper meaning of his adventures. In Harry Potter and Philosophy, 17 experts in the field of philosophy unlock some of Hogwarts' secret panels, uncovering surprising insights that are enlightening both for wizards and for the most discerning muggles. Individual chapters look at such topics as life revealed in the Mirror of Erised; the ethics of magic; Moaning Myrtle, Nearly Headless Nick, and the relation of the mind to the brain; and the character of Hermione as a case of "sublimated feminism." Also examined in this witty collection are how Aristotle would have run a school for wizards; whether the Potter stories undermine religion and morality; how to tell good people from evil ones through the characters in these novels; and what dementors and boggarts can teach readers about happiness, fear, and the soul. Views: 15
"Crazy, dangerous, prophetic" Angela CarterIn DOWNRIVER, Iain Sinclair traces the ruins of Margaret Thatcher's reign through the lens of a fictional film crew that has been hired to make a documentary about what's left of London's river life. The Thames may still flow through the heart of the capital, but life along its shores has changed dramatically.DOWNRIVER is a savage, satirical quest to understand how people's lives, a government's policies and a legendary waterland conspire together in a boggling display of self-destruction. Views: 15
Sometimes Naughty To Xandra Farrel, men are only good for procreation and pleasure-and sometimes they even need help with that. As proprietor of erotic toy manufacturer Wild Women, Inc., she's ready to launch her best product just as soon as she tests it out. Her subject: Beau Hollister, once the sexiest, most popular bad boy in high school, and the man responsible for the worst sexual experience of Xandra's life. If Xandra can have one mind-blowing night with Beau, the commercial success of her product is a sure thing... Sometimes Nice When Beau started his home renovation company, Hire-a-Hunk, being Xandra's boy toy was not what he had in mind, especially since he blew it way back when. Then Xandra turns up the heat and turns on the seduction. As wills clash and hearts collide, can unexpected love prove that being naughty is sometimes the nicest way a girl can have her Beau...and keep him too?From Publishers WeeklyRaye brings sex toys out of the bedroom and into the pages of this featherweight follow-up to her first Farrel sisters book, Kiss Me Once, Kiss Me Twice. Xandra Farrel, owner, head designer and product tester of Wild Woman, Inc., a manufacturer of erotic merchandise, plans to blow her competition out of the water with a new female condom designed to give every woman what she really wants: the ultimate orgasm. Who better to test it with than Beau Hollister, the man responsible for the worst five-minute sexual experience in her life? Getting Beau into bed isn't as easy as she thinks, especially since he still blames her for the loss of his college scholarship years earlier. Xandra, who is obsessed with her three gray hairs down there, shedding 10 pounds and being dumped by her ex-boyfriend after eight years (which doesn't really count since she didn't love him anyway), now becomes obsessed with seducing Beau. Humor, sex and seduction is the soup du jour here, but a less than tasteful reference to a sex act involving a cat and peanut butter may put off some readers. While the banter between characters can be mundane and Xandra's whininess will try readers' patience, Raye bravely crawls out on a limb with her subject matter, a gamble that may pay off among younger romance fans. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review'A unique and special talent' -Affaire de Coeur 'Kimberly Raye is hot, hot, hot!' -Vicki Lewis Thompson, New York Times bestselling author of Nerd in Shining Armor Views: 15
A haunting anthology of vampire fiction -- one that brings a colorful new dimension to one of the world's most erotic and enduring myths. FEATURING STORIES FROM SOME OF TODAY'SMOST POPULAR AFRICAN AMERICAN WRITERS OMAR TYREE writing as The Urban Griot The Old South falls prey to a handsome young vampire with a real taste for the ladies. Love at first bite never hurt so good. ANGELA C. ALLEN The mafia is no match for the wicked charms of a beautiful young vampire once she's let loose on the New York City streets. MONICA JACKSON Can a pair of fangs help a sister burn more calories? A full-figured woman goes on a thirst-quenching search for the perfect low-carb diet. LINDA ADDISON It's a matter of life and the living dead for a half-vampire whose greatest wish is to save lives...and become human again. DONNA HILL A sensuous vampire thirsts for something more...but can she... Views: 15
SECRETS UNDER THE SUN Eager to spend a sentimental summer on Lake Michigan, Blair Colby traveled to his late aunt's cottage in Devil's Cove, only to find the place ransacked. Blair had no idea why, but he was determined to find out. He soon enlisted the help of Courtney Brennan, the beautiful next-door neighbor who'd watched over the cottage since his aunt died. After a love affair gone sour, Courtney had vowed never to love again, but Blair wanted to make her rethink those vows. When Courtney's apartment was vandalized next, Blair had to do everything in his power to protect her while trying to uncover the truth behind the mysterious crimes -- before it was too late.... Views: 15
Double Exposure A wildlife photographer’s camera traps capture the frame by frame commission of a crime. Now’s he’s running for his life deep in the river swamp. Lyrical, literary, told in poetic, photographic impressions, DOUBLE EXPOSURE is a page-turner with a soul. Includes a special Introduction by Michael Connelly!“DOUBLE EXPOSURE is absolutely riveting! Elegiac prose, insightful characterization and a wonderfully ingenious plot.” Michael ConnellyA Florida Book Award-winner, soon to be a major motion picture.Following his dad's death, Remington James returns to the small North Florida town where he grew up to assume his father's life — taking care of his dying mother and running the local gun and pawn shop.Picking up a camera again after a long hiatus, Remington returns to his first love, pursuing in earnest his lifelong dream of becoming a wildlife photographer.One fateful... Views: 15
After a freak accident and eight weeks in a coma, Suzie Connors' family are elated when their adored mother finally wakes up absolutely fine. Except she's not. Blissfully unaware of her children's shock at having to deal with the changes in their mum, Suzie has had a wake-up call and intends to live life to the full, with or without their approval. Then her youngest daughter, Sharon, is faced with some major issues of her own and the one person she would have turned to – her mother – is no longer there for her. An emotional story about family, second chances and what happens when, in the blink of an eye, life changes forever ... Views: 15
Alice Hoffman's most magical novel to date--three generations of extraordinary women are driven to unite in crisis and discover the rewards of reconciliation and love. Women of the Sparrow family have unusual gifts. Elinor can detect falsehood. Her daughter, Jenny, can see people's dreams when they sleep. Granddaughter Stella has a mental window on the future--a future that she might not want to see. In The Probable Future this vivid and intriguing cast of characters confronts a haunting past--and a very current murder--against the evocative backdrop of small-town New England. By turns chilling and enchanting, The Probable Future chronicles the Sparrows's legacy as young Stella struggles to cope with her disturbing clairvoyance. Her potential to ruin or redeem becomes unbearable when one of her premonitions puts her father in jail, wrongly accused of homicide. Yet this ordeal also leads Stella to the grandmother she was forbidden to meet and to a... Views: 15
Paula returns for more in this sequel to Paula's Playdate. Jonathon takes her to the next level in compliance as she submits to him, and pays the penance for arriving late to their meeting. Graphic descriptions of sexual situations. Adults only! Views: 15
After escaping the bullet that killed his twin, Special Agent Will Griffin awakened from a six-day coma seconds before the assassin struck again. Now he's on the run with the one woman who'll stop at nothing to keep him alive -- Holly Amberson. Used to calling the shots, Holly isn't about to let anyone take down the man she's loved from afar for more years than she can remember. And it's not long before several close brushes force her and Will to succumb to their escalating passion. But once the danger has passed, can she make Will see that his life isn't worth living...unless she's a part of it? Views: 15
On Christmas night of 1998, Maria Meyers learns that her twenty-year-old daughter, Pearl, has chained herself outside the American embassy in Dublin, where she intends to starve herself to death. Although Maria was once a student radical and still proudly lives by her beliefs, gentle, book-loving Pearl has never been interested in politics–nor in the Catholicism her mother rejected years before. What, then, is driving her to martyr herself? Shaken by this mystery, Maria and her childhood friend (and Pearl’s surrogate father), Joseph Kasperman, both rush to Pearl’s side. As Mary Gordon tells the story of the bonds among them, she takes us deep into the labyrinths of maternal love, religious faith, and Ireland’s tragic history. Pearl is a grand and emotionally daring novel of ideas, told with the tension of a thriller.From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 15
Melrose Morgan’s whole life changed when she met the lead singer of the world’s biggest boy band. Little did she realize how quickly and deeply they would fall in love. Now the band is facing their biggest obstacles yet. Can Melrose help the boys get back on top of the charts? And what will happen to her own future once they realize she can sing too? Views: 15
It was the halo that caught her heart between beats and made her pause to take notice. When Alessi Moore drives her red Mustang convertible into town, she wonders if this could be the place she was meant to find, a place to settle down. But when her convertible and all she owns is stolen, she is filled with doubt. Views: 15
