A middle-aged widow makes a new life in a strange apartment house Nona Henry's husband is dead, and with him the life they spent years building in New York City. Unable to bear the Manhattan winter without him, Nona goes west to Pasadena, California, land of sun, sand, and rebirth. She finds a picture postcard advertising a boarding house called Sans Souci and, charmed by the elegant hotel's stately patio, makes a one-month reservation. Reality does not live up to the postcard. Sans Souci is dingy, cramped, and dark, a claptrap hotel full of shabby rooms whose windows overlook a run-down neighborhood. But Nona will not give in. Sixteen other widows live in the hotel. Some are lifers, some just passing through. In this eclectic mix of women whose men have gone, Nona finds a niche, and learns that the end of her old life can't stop her from beginning again. Views: 70
INTRODUCING JUNIOR BENDER, THE FAVORITE BURGLAR-TURNED-PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR OF HOLLYWOOD CROOKSJunior Bender is a Los Angeles burglar with a magic touch. Since he first started breaking into houses when he was fourteen years old, he’s never once been caught. But now, after twenty-two years of an exemplary career, Junior has been blackmailed by Trey Annunziato, one of the most powerful crime bosses in LA, into acting as a private investigator on the set of Trey’s porn movie venture, which someone keeps sabotaging. The star Trey has lined up to do all that’s unwholesome on camera is Thistle Downing, America’s beloved child star, who now lives alone in a drug-induced stupor, destitute and uninsurable. Her starring role will be the scandalous fall-from-grace gossip of rubber-neckers across the country. No wonder Trey needs help keeping the production on track.Junior knows what that he should do—get Thistle out and find her help—but doing the right thing will land him on the wrong side of LA’s scariest mob boss. With the help of his precocious twelve-year-old daughter, Rina, and his criminal sidekick, Louie the Lost (an ex-getaway driver), Junior has to figure out a miracle solution.From the Hardcover edition.Review''Tim Hallinan has done it again. He's created a must-read series that you will find hard to put down! Junior Bender is all you could ever want in a hero-thief: smart and funny, with a penchant for finding himself in situations he'd much rather avoid. Do not miss any of these books. A must read in my house.'' --Brett Battles, author of the award-winning 'Jonathan Quinn' series ''Crashed is funny, thrilling, and even sad - a great beginning for a great new series. Timothy Hallinan is one of my favorite writers, and this is Hallinan at the top of his game. It's laugh-out-loud funny without ever losing any of its mystery. It's a whole new style and I love it. Junior Bender--a crook with a heart of gold--is one of Hallinan's most appealing heroes, rich with invention and brimming with classic wit. I can't recommend it highly enough.'' --Shadoe Stevens, Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson''Hallinan is one of the master storytellers of our generation. Crashed is pure rapture.'' --CJ West, author of The End of Marking TimeAbout the AuthorTIMOTHY HALLINAN is the Edgar- and Macavity Award-nominated author of over a dozen widely praised books, including the 'Poke Rafferty' Bangkok thrillers and the 'Junior Bender' series. In 2010 Hallinan conceived and edited an e-book of original short stories by twenty mystery writers, Shaken: Stories for Japan, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to Japanese disaster relief. Views: 70
Product DescriptionQuinn Wilde spends a formative year studying at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, and living in Fife Park, the cheapest student residence in the UK. Along the way, there are mistakes and faux pas, damages and destruction, passions and revelations, longing and belonging, love, mystery, tragedy, respect, and just a tiny little bit of sex. "One of the best home-grown comedies of this year, a real campus-themed gem." "This first-time author is really one to watch. His book is generously offered and generously priced. I suggest you reward him by reading it." "A surprisingly compelling novella, which I chewed through in a single laugh-out-loud sitting." "If you've been to University, and don't recognise half of this book, then you haven't really been to University." Views: 70
Carol Golden isn't her real name. She doesn't remember her real name or anything that happened before she was found in a Dumpster, naked and unconscious, on the beautiful Palos Verdes Peninsula in Southern California. Government officially declares her a non-person and doesn't want anything to do with her. And nobody is looking for her—nobody, that is, except the person who left her for dead. Views: 70
Laurel discovers her passion for investigative journalism when she writes an article for her school paper about the homeless man who's been living at the school. Eager to write more articles with impact, she launches an investigation of a cheating scam at her high school. Laurel's efforts elicit hostility from her classmates. Nobody is interested in seeing her article go to print, not even her own brother. It is evident that the cheating is widespread, and Laurel, caught up in the thrill of the investigation, is willing to commit social suicide to get the story, but her ultimate discovery changes everything. (20100924)From BooklistHaving grown up in the shadow of her big brother, a school legend, Laurel is thrilled when one of her stories for the school paper wins acclaim. Eager to repeat her success, Laurel writes a piece about cheating after she observes one classmate slip test answers to another. The reaction to this story is totally different. “Lighten up,” her friend tells her. “It’s no big deal.” Laurel is dismayed because “dishonesty is dishonesty.” An anonymous tip points Laurel to a bigger cheating scandal, but her investigation leads her straight to people she cares about, and suddenly the issue is far from black and white. This Orca Currents title for low-level readers focuses on issues teens will care about. Laurel’s clandestine probing provides plenty of plot tension, and her discoveries will keep readers guessing about larger mysteries. Readers will want to discuss the issue of cheating, its ramifications, and Laurel’s final choices about turning people in. Grades 5-8. --Lynn Rutan Review"Butcher offers an insightful look into the ethics and morals of high school students...The short book really lends itself to a good discussion." (PSLA Top Forty 20110401)"Well suited to its intended audience With its succinct text, short chapters, and emphasis on contemporary teen issues, Cheat should be popular with reluctant young adult readers .Recommended." (CM Magazine 20110201)"A realistic portrayal of high school students' attitudes towards cheating This is a well written narrative that will challenge readers to make a decision about what's right and what's wrong. Recommended." (Library Media Connection )"Short, quick chapters are propelled by frenetic action True to life, this book does not offer a tidy, Pollyanna-ish conclusion; Laurel comes to learn from this experience a difficult lesson at a great expense. A speedy read." (Kirkus Reviews )"It was easy to get caught up in this book—enough suspense to keep the story moving briskly along. A good hi-low read for teens." (Puget Sound Council for Reviewing Children's Media )"Butcher's portrayal of high school cheating is believable, with actual consequences...The pacing will keep reluctant readers hooked until the very end." (School Library Journal ) Views: 70
FromA 30-year-old British woman, bored with her National Health Service job, applies on a whim for a position as a trainee at a hospital mortuary. This entertaining memoir chronicles the author’s first year on the job, which sees her learning how to perform a postmortem, determine cause of death, and deal with grieving relatives and shady undertakers (among a lot of other things). She tells her story in a straightforward manner, not pulling any punches when it comes to describing her working environment (“He tugged at the guts and began to unwind them . . . .”), although this means there are occasional gruesome and shivery moments (“it was infested with maggots that were having a huge feast on human flesh”). Her colleagues are portrayed as ordinary men and women, not as a collection of comic stereotypes: one of the book’s key themes is that it’s an unusual job, but the people who do it are just regular folk. Not your run-of-the-mill occupational memoir, but definitely an interesting one. --David Pitt Product DescriptionMichelle Williams is young and attractive, with close family ties, a busy social life . . . and an unusual occupation. When she impulsively applies to be a mortuary technician and is offered the position, she has no idea that her decision to accept will be one of the most momentous of her life. “What I didn’t realize then,” she writes, “was that I was about to start one of the most amazing jobs you can do.” To Williams, life in the mortuary is neither grim nor frightening. She introduces readers to a host of unique characters: pathologists (many eccentric, some utterly crazy), undertakers, and the man from the coroner’s office who sings to her every morning. No two days are alike, and while Williams’s sensitivity to the dead never wavers, her tales from the crypt range from mischievous to downright shocking. Readers won’t forget the fitness fanatic run over while doing nighttime push-ups on the road, the man so large he had to be carted in via refrigerated truck, or the guide dog who led his owner onto railway tracks—and left him there. The indomitable Williams never bats an eye, even as she is confronted—daily—with situations that would leave the rest of us speechless. Views: 70
