In the first decades of the nineteenth century, no place burned more brightly in the imagination of European geographers--and fortune hunters--than the lost city of Timbuktu. Africa's legendary City of Gold, not visited by Europeans since the Middle Ages, held the promise of wealth and fame for the first explorer to make it there. In 1824, the French Geographical Society offered a cash prize to the first expedition from any nation to visit Timbuktu and return to tell the tale. One of the contenders was Major Alexander Gordon Laing, a thirty-year-old army officer. Handsome and confident, Laing was convinced that Timbuktu was his destiny, and his ticket to glory. In July 1825, after a whirlwind romance with Emma Warrington, daughter of the British consul at Tripoli, Laing left the Mediterranean coast to cross the Sahara. His 2,000-mile journey took on an added urgency when Hugh Clapperton, a more experienced explorer, set out to beat him. Apprised of each other's mission by overseers in London who hoped the two would cooperate, Clapperton instead became Laing's rival, spurring him on across a hostile wilderness. An emotionally charged, action-packed, utterly gripping read, The Race for Timbuktu offers a close, personal look at the extraordinary people and pivotal events of nineteenth-century African exploration that changed the course of history and the shape of the modern world. Views: 16
Book 6 in the My Immortal Knight series. As the new sheriff on Dark Mountain, Alec Weir walks a fine line between upholding werewolf clan laws and saving his vampire-loving brother from certain death. To save Max, he must find the traitor in the clan responsible for the death of a member of Max's super-secret police unit, which aligned with the southern vampire council. Complicating things further, his chosen mate, Stasia McGwyre, still holds a candle for Max. Stasia can't resist tweaking Alec's tail each time she gets near him. After being dumped by Max, she's sure the only thing Alec is after anyway is a wild ride in the hay and a little familial one-upmanship. When Alec's frustration with her bad-ass attitude leads to a rougher brand of sex, Stasia and Alec are both shocked to realize there's a deep animalistic streak running through them both. Views: 16
Hermann, 37 years old and listless, has his life turned upside-down when his rapier-tongued, usually intoxicated mother is diagnosed with cancer. They embark on a picaresque journey to Amsterdam to get her a special treatment, and to bond over all the booze they can imbibe. Wickedly funny and profound, this is a mother-son novel for the twenty-first century. Views: 16
The Ashleys rule Miss Gamble's Preparatory School for Girls. They are gorgeous, rich, impeccably fashion forward, and, yes, all named Ashley. Lauren Page has gone to the same school with them her whole life, and the Ashleys, if forced to remember, might recall only a faint memory of shoving mud in the poor girl's mouth in kindergarten. But Lauren Page is no longer the mud-eating loser she once was. And though she has completely changed her exterior from bargain-basement cast-offs to off-the-runway couture (props, of course, to her new personal shopper) she is still the same person on the inside. And that person has had enough of the current regime. Look out, Ashleys. There's a new name in school. Views: 16
London's West End is associated with fashion and glamour but for centuries it has had a far darker side. Geoffrey Howse has uncovered an astonishing catalogue of sinister deeds, some of them famous but others long forgotten. Read about spying, treason, embezzlement, regicide, robbery, forgery, religious persecution, suicide, murder and mutilation; and 'witness' horrendous punishments such as drawing, hanging, disemboweling, quartering, castration, beheading and burning. Earlier cases include the execution of Scottish patriots (1305/6) and three monks who dared to question the supremacy of Henry VIII in 1535. Such events attracted great public attention, as did the extraordinary execution of Charles I in 1649 and, in 1820, the hanging and mutilation of the Cato Street Conspiritors. The foul murder of the famous actor William Terriss, by a madman, in 1897, is featured as are several notable cases from the twentieth century including the horrific wartime murders of Gordon Cummins,... Views: 16
For someone afraid of the dark, living in the Arctic is a severe test of courage. Ten-year-old Jean-Paul struggles to hide his fear and adjust to life in the NWT, where he is taunted by a group of Inuit boys because of his lameness caused by a birth defect. Forced imprisonment in a haunted igloo proves to be one of the most severe challenges to face Jean-Paul in the harsh Arctic environment. Views: 16
A romantic thriller set on a snowy mountaintop. During a blizzard, Andrew’s dog, Shadow, finds Destiny—a beautiful woman left for dead, but very much alive. With her she brings mystery, danger and passion to the little cabin. Views: 16
Godmother Lily is having a hard time protecting the small but rich kingdom of Eltaria. The Tradition is trying to force Princess Rosamund down a path -- but is it that of Sleeping Beauty or Snow White? Everything seems to be being subverted, from the seven evil dwarfs who capture Rosamund, to the Wicked Stepmother who rescues her. And to top it all, Prince Siegfried needs to rescue a maiden who isn't his aunt from a ring of fire in order to avoid his own Doom. The only solution to all this: issue a set of challenges to all the local Princes, the prize being the kingdom and fair Rosamund's hand. Views: 16
When Linda's high school sets up online chat rooms, she can't resist the urge to visit them. Fueled by interest in a student with the nickname Cyrano, Linda, a girl who suffers from extreme shyness, gets chatty online. Using the nickname Roxanne, she gains a reputation as the queen of one-liners. Soon Linda starts receiving gifts from a secret admirer, and she feels like her life might be turning around. But she has a lot to learn about the risks of online anonymity. Views: 16
In the bitter winter of 1847, The Star of the Sea sets sail from Ireland for New York. Amongst the passengers are a maidservant with a devastating secret, bankrupt Lord Merridith and his family, an aspiring novelist and a maker of revolutionary ballads. All in search of a new home in the Promised land, each is yet connected more deeply than they can possibly know... and a camouflaged killer is stalking the decks, hungry for vengeance and absolution. Views: 16
