There was a time when the world was sweeter....when the women in Beaufort, North Carolina, wore dresses, and the men donned hats.... Every April, when the wind smells of both the sea and lilacs, Landon Carter remembers 1958, his last year at Beaufort High. Landon had dated a girl or two, and even once sworn that he'd been in love. Certainly the last person he thought he'd fall for was Jamie, the shy, almost ethereal daughter of the town's Baptist minister....Jamie, who was destined to show him the depths of the human heart—and the joy and pain of living. The inspiration for this novel came from Nicholas Sparks's sister: her life and her courage. From the internationally bestselling author Nicholas Sparks, comes his most moving story yet.... Views: 27
On a distant planet called Nova Prime, the United Ranger Corps defends the galaxy's remaining humans from an alien race known as the Skrel and their genetically engineered predators, the Ursa. But one ordinary man may have just found the key to humanity's last stand: a secret weapon hidden deep within his own psyche. "Ghost Stories: Hunted" is the first of six eBook short stories that lead up to the events of After Earth, the epic science fiction adventure film directed by M. Night Shyamalan and starring Jaden Smith and Will Smith. For all his charm, looks, and skills on the holographic battlefield, Daniel Silver has been drifting through life in Nova Prime City. After proposing to his girlfriend and getting rejected in the cruelest way possible, Daniel has no choice but to accept an altogether different kind of proposition. Sigmund Ryerson, an eccentric energy magnate, has asked him to lead a civilian expedition to take down an Ursa, the... Views: 27
Earth is now home to a population of angels. But they are not your typical angels. They are hunted. Yet life goes in the angelic cities and towns of the world. For now. Views: 27
After his father is executed, Lil T vows to seek revenge against every individual who played a part in Youngblood's downfall. Anybody whose testimony helped convict Youngblood and sent him to death row is sure to catch hell on Earth. Following in his father's footsteps, Lil T dons the name Trouble, and his name holds the true weight of its meaning. The time has arrived when Lil T is all grown up and filled with bitterness. The ATL is about to feel his pain! By his side like a trustworthy glock, is his beautiful but deadly ride or die shawdy, Kamora. Together they cannot be denied. Only one thing can break their bond as they rob, murder, extort and inflict vengeance. Views: 27
There's a little bit of magic in every box.™Scottish Play Doe—aka Scott—is used to being a little different. Sometimes he hallucinates things no one else can see. Mermaids. Unicorns. A talking rabbit-man in tweed pants.But then one of these hallucinations tries to steal Scott's backpack, and he comes face-to-face with an honest-to-goodness leprechaun named Mick who's on the run from, of all things, the Goodco Cereal Company.With the help of their friends Erno and Emily, Scott and Mick uncover Goodco's sinister plans—and take the first steps in saving the world from the evil cereal company.Amazon.com Review Jon Scieszka Interviews Adam Rex Jon Scieszka is the National Ambassador for Children’s Literature emeritus and the bestselling author of more than 25 books for kids, including The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, Math Curse, Robot Zot!, and the Time Warp Trio series. Jon founded Guys Read to encourage a passion for reading among young boys, with the philosophy that boys love to read most when they are reading things they love. Jon Scieszka: Cold Cereal is the only novel I have ever read that combines Celtic folklore, cryptozoology, Arthurian legends, codes and puzzles, Freemasonry, dragon biology, TV cereal commercials, Shakespeare, and a rough outline for the musical version of Huckleberry Finn. How did that happen? Adam Rex: Honestly? After my last novel (Fat Vampire) I wanted to get back to writing for a middle-grade audience, and I had, like, six or seven possible novels already started to some degree or another. And I began to notice some connective tissue between a few of them. My idea about the twins who are test subjects in a sinister experiment had an evil breakfast cereal company in it. The one about the kid who catches a leprechaun trying to steal his backpack in a bus station restroom had a character who’s at home both in ancient folklore and cereal commercials. The one about the modern-day pop-star knight who has to slay a dragon and the one about a time-traveling Merlin had European folklore connections, too. So I started mashing them all together and found they complemented each other better than they had any right to. And then I added a musical Huck Finn. Scieszka: In writing so extensively about leprechauns and clurichauns, unicorns and unicats, goblins and pookas and other assorted Fair Folk… don’t you worry that you might have revealed too much? About both Queen Titania’s court and your middle-school reading history?Rex: Ha! (Cough.) Yes. My middle-school reading history was pretty dire, actually, as practically everything I read outside of school was some officially licensed Dungeons & Dragons novel. Which is to say: I read a lot of fantasy, but I didn't even read any good fantasy. To this day I still haven't read The Lord of the Rings, which is, of course, the basis for everything I liked in middle school until I discovered comic books.And the really stupid thing is: seventh-grade me probably would have resented a lot of what I try to get away with in Cold Cereal. “That’s not what goblins are like,” I would have said. “There’s no such thing as a unicat.” But I think I would have read it anyway for the humor because I was also big in Douglas Adams at the time. And still am. Scieszka: Two two-part questions: What is the best or worst cereal commercial you’ve ever seen? And why? What is your most favorite or most hated breakfast cereal? And why?Rex: As a kid I actually wasn’t allowed any of the kind of “sugar cereals” that the Goodco Cereal Company makes in my book. Which is probably why the commercials made such an impression on me. I was like Lancelot, offered a glimpse of the Sangrail but not allowed to enter into its presence. You see what I did there? Tied together breakfast cereal and the Arthurian legends? That’s what’s called “staying on point.”I think the worst commercial I ever saw was an eighties spot for Apple Jacks. A group of girls are sitting around talking about how great Apple Jacks are, as girls do, and the main girl’s dad butts in and asks why the girls like them if they don’t even taste like apples. The girls look at one another, stumped and flustered, until the daughter blurts out, “We just do, okay?” “Okay.” Dad shrugs and leaves. And when he’s out of earshot, the main girl tells her friends, “He’s old,” and they all giggle. Even as a kid I knew this commercial failed on every level.My favorite cereal commercial was anytime there was a crazy mix-up at the Crunchberry factory. Scieszka: The brother and sister spats and tricks between Erno and Emily and Scott and Polly are so real that I have to ask: Do you have an annoying younger, older, or twin sister?Rex: I was the annoying younger brother. But we got along better than most. I also have a sister who's twelve years younger—too young to have been a source of any conflict in my life. If anything, I wanted my younger sister to tag along on my outings—I got more attention from teenage girls when she did.I think I developed my sense of sibling rivalry from watching my childhood best friend’s family. They fought so much they even had their own family-only derogatory term for each other: “buh.” “You’re being a buh,” they’d tell a brother or sister who was judged at that moment to be difficult or annoying. It’s an excellent word and one I hope to teach to my own children someday. Scieszka: The briefly described musical of Huckleberry Finn sounds perfectly awful. Can you share any more details about Oh Huck! with us?Rex: Well, as the book says, the play’s narrator is a talking raft (Riff-Raft), and it features a rapping scarecrow. I also imagine it to be the sort of Julie Taymor–inspired production where the Mississippi is represented by a hundred dancers in leotards doing the worm or whatever. And in our supposedly post-racial society, Jim is played by Nathan Lane. But that’s all I can say about it. Scieszka: What more can you tell us about the next two books in this promised “Magically Delicious New Trilogy”?Rex: In book two, Unlucky Charms, my heroes will travel to England, attempt to expose the queen as two goblins in a queen suit, travel to the enchanted isles of Pretannica to plead for humanity from Queen Titania herself, and possibly slay a dragon while they’re there. Along the way they’ll accidentally ingest the Salmon of Knowledge; learn the true history of Arthur, King of the Britons; and if I have time, face the unspeakable terror of the Ronopolisk. Probably not that last thing.Review“Totally original and wholly brilliant. Adam Rex must be stopped.” (Eoin Colfer, bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series )“With an off-the-wall sensibility that fans of the author’s True Meaning of Smekday will recognize with delight, Rex brings together unconventional allies to be hunted by agents of the huge Goodco Cereal Company.” (Kirkus Reviews (starred review) )“Rex takes his magically delicious premise seriously, finding the thin line between absurdity and comedy, while giving this story more gravitas and depth than might be expected.” (Publishers Weekly )“The story is filled with wildly imaginative elements and clever wisecracks, but the humor is couched within a rich, complex plot that’s filled with engaging characters and concepts. Readers who enjoy fantasies that are equal parts hilarious and exciting will eagerly await the next two in the series.” (School Library Journal (starred review) )“An expansive cast of colorful characters (including Merle Lynn, an accountant) keep the surprises coming. Reader interest and suspension of disbelief never flag in this humorous, consistently entertaining, well-spun yarn.” (The Horn Book )“Rex supports his centrifugal imagination with tight storytelling, effervescent characterization, and strong imagery and metaphor. . . . will leave readers anxious for the sequel.” (ALA Booklist )“The divinely demented Adam Rex strikes again! Cold Cereal is exciting, strange, and deliciously different. His deft mixing of myth with modernity is flat-out fabulous.” (Bruce Coville, author of My Teacher Is an Alien )“Warning—this book contains the following ingredients in dangerously high quantities: wild fantasy, dynamic action, great satire and silly jokes. It’s as addictive as one of Goodco’s sinister breakfast products—and a whole lot better for you. I loved it. Second helpings, please!” (Jonathan Stroud, bestselling author of the Bartimaeus Trilogy ) Views: 27
In his most daring assignment yet, Vish Puri, India’s Most Private Investigator, infiltrates the dangerous world of illegal gambling to solve the murder of a high-profile Pakistani on Indian soil.Dubbed “a wonderfully engaging P.I.” (The Times, London), Tarquin Hall’s irresistible protagonist Vish Puri has become an international favorite through a series that “splendidly evokes the color and bustle of Delhi and the tang of contemporary India” (Seattle Times). Now the gormandizing, spectacularly mustachioed sleuth finds himself facing down his greatest fears in an explosive case involving the Indian and Pakistani mafias. When the elderly father of a top Pakistani cricketer playing in a new multimillion-dollar cricket league dies frothing at the mouth during a post-match dinner, it’s not a simple case of Delhi Belly. His butter chicken has been poisoned. To solve the case, Puri must penetrate the region’s organized crime, following a trail that leads deep into Pakistan—the country in which many members of the P.I.’s family were massacred during the 1947 partition of India. The last piece of the puzzle, however, turns up closer to home when Puri learns of the one person who can identify the killer. Unfortunately it is the one person in the world with whom he has sworn never to work: his Mummy-ji. With riotously entertaining prose, a boisterous cast of characters, and a pitch-perfect sense of place, Tarquin Hall has crafted a gripping whodunit that takes us deep into Indian history and society. He brings a hugely appealing culture to life with all its sights, sounds, smells, foods, and complexity. As the title implies, The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken is a succulent read by a writer at the top of his game. In his most daring assignment yet, Vish Puri, India’s Most Private Investigator, infiltrates the dangerous world of illegal gambling to solve the murder of a high-profile Pakistani on Indian soil.Includes three mouthwatering recipes from the Vish Puri family kitchen.Review“These books are little gems. They are beautifully written, amusing, and intensely readable.” —Alexander McCall Smith“A thoroughly engaging series . . . Hall has a gift for conveying the rich stew of competing cultures in contemporary India with a wonderful economy of image. . . . Hall presents a complex hero in a complex country with a great deal of history, humor, and panache.” —Booklist (starred review)“Outstanding . . . Well-drawn colorful characters bolster a whodunit sure to appeal to those who enjoy a dash of humor with their crime.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)“India, captured in all its pungent, vivid glory, fascinates almost as much as the crime itself.” —Entertainment Weekly“Hall writes amusing mysteries . . . [his] affectionate humor is embedded with barbs.” —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review“Splendid . . . Entertaining . . . Vish Puri is large, constantly hungry, a perpetual victim of Delhi’s traffic congestion, and a wonderfully engaging P.I. . . . A joy to read.” —The Times (London)“Hall takes the reader into a very Indian, very Delhi web of spirituality, sin, slums, and power broking, but all treated with a veneer of wit and intelligent absurdity.” —India Today“Modern India, in all its colorful squalor, provides a vivid backdrop for this well-crafted whodunit.” —Jean Westmoore, Buffalo News“It’s only a matter of time before Hollywood turns this into a movie or a TV show... The three books develop nicely with each central mystery a little more complicated and dangerous than the one before… It’s quite possible that what has begun as fun series will become a genuinely great one.”— The Huffington PostAbout the AuthorTarquin Hall has lived and worked throughout South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. He has also written dozens of articles and three works of nonfiction. He and his family live in Delhi. Views: 27
When Spinner McPherson—accompanied by his friend Reglan, and Otter, his dog—hikes deep into Echo Valley, the last thing he expects is to discover a place where creatures long-thought to be extinct still exist. But that’s exactly what he and Reglan do. They discover Underland—a place like no other on Earth.
Spinner immediately envisions the fame and fortune he will gain by reporting Underland’s existence; Reglan views the situation differently, wanting Underland to remain a secret. When they part ways, each doing what they think is right, the discovery propels Spinner on a race against time to prevent Underland, and all its mystical animals and intriguing secrets, from vanishing from the Earth forever. Views: 27
USA TODAY bestselling author Julie Miller's The Precinct: Task Force series heats up when a plain Jane and an experienced cop pose as an engaged couple. Something about Hope Lockhart fascinated Officer Pike Taylor. The cop and his canine companion had been patrolling the neighborhood around Hope's bridal shop for months, trying to capture the criminal who targeted her. Was it the way she hid her voluptuous beauty beneath a plain Jane exterior? Hope bore the scars of a troubling past. And despite a profession steeped in romance, she'd never known the love of a man. But when Pike is assigned to protect her by posing as her live-in fiance, his tenderness may give Hope the courage to open her heart for the very first time. Views: 27
Libby Sarjeant and her partner Ben are hosting a Writers' Weekend at
Ben's family home, The Manor. Surely, nothing can go wrong? But when a
strange body turns up in the grounds, it appears that more than one of
the delegates could have murderous intentions - and not only on paper! Views: 27
