A physicist explains daily phenomena from the mundane to the magisterial.Take a look up at the stars on a clear night and you get a sense that the universe is vast and untouchable, full of mysteries beyond comprehension. But did you know that the key to unveiling the secrets of the cosmos is as close as the nearest toaster?Our home here on Earth is messy, mutable, and full of humdrum things that we touch and modify without much thought every day. But these familiar surroundings are just the place to look if you're interested in what makes the universe tick. In Storm in a Teacup, Helen Czerski provides the tools to alter the way we see everything around us by linking ordinary objects and occurrences, like popcorn popping, coffee stains, and fridge magnets, to big ideas like climate change, the energy crisis, or innovative medical testing. She guides us through the principles of gases ("Explosions in the kitchen are generally considered a bad idea. But just... Views: 20
A masked gang rob a supermarket at Talant, a home-made bomb is found at the local airport, and the body of an old man is found on the motorway near Mailly-les-Temps. Also, what is the connection between a fearful lawyer and the fatal stabbing of a Scottish tourist? On top of all this, Daniel Darcy, trusted deputy to Chief Inspector Pel has been suspended on suspicion of taking bribes. Views: 20
It is 1943 and Naples has been looted by the Allies and Axis powers alike, its priceless art treasures coveted by some of the most corrupt criminal minds in Europe. But under the orders of Field Security, Tom Pugh must save the paintings of Detto Banti, no matter what the cost. In this tantalising read, one man stands against a tide of wilful destruction and greed, trying to save a past for the people of Naples' future. Views: 20
"If "Catcher in the Rye" has lost its raw clout for recent generations of Internet-suckled American youth, here is a coming-of-age novel to replace it." -"Publishers Weekly "(starred review)The first days of summer: Jim Praley is home from college, ready to unlock Tulsa's secrets. He drives the highways. He forces himself to get out of his car and walk into a bar. He's invited to a party. And there he meets Adrienne Booker; Adrienne rules Tulsa, in her way. A high-school dropout with a penthouse apartment, she takes a curious interest in Jim. Through her eyes, he will rediscover his hometown: its wasted sprawl, the beauty of its late nights, and, at the city's center, the unsleeping light of its skyscrapers. In the tradition of Michael Chabon's "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh," "A Map of Tulsa" is elegiac, graceful, and as much a story about young love as it is a love letter to a classic American city. Views: 20
A classic Western with all of the favorites—danger, murder, criminals, and gunfights! At twenty-two, John Signal is old enough to have been in a shooting scrape. It was a fair fight, but the man he killed was well-connected. Fleeing Signal arrives in the mining town of Monument, calling himself John Alias. Almost immediately his horse is stolen. He learns the name of the thief, Sam Langley, and even where he is. Sheriff Peter Ogden, rather than pursuing the thief, Alias he will make him a deputy if he succeeds in retrieving his horse. Alias manages to get his horse back, but not without violence. Sheriff Ogden makes good on his promise while explaining the local power structure. The Bone faction is behind most of the crimes in the district. On the other side is Town Marshal Fitzgerald Eagan, his brothers, and consumptive gambler and gunman Major Paul Harkness. Of the two, Sheriff Ogden is partial to the Bones faction and advises Alias to follow suit. But Alias is... Views: 20
Murder in Little EgyptOverview: The unimaginable crime of filicide takes on the cast of tragic inevitability in this haunting true tale of violence, greed, revenge, and death. Fusing the narrative power of an award-winning novelist and the detailed research of an experienced investigator, Darcy O'Brien unfolds the story of Dr. John Dale Cavaness, the southern Illinois physician and surgeon who in December 1984 was charged with the murder of his son Sean. Outraged by the arrest of the skilled medical practitioner who selflessly attended to their needs, the people of Little Egypt rose to his defense. In the trial, however, a radically different, disquieting portrait of Dr. Cavaness would emerge. For throughout the three decades that he enjoyed the admiration and respect of his community, Cavaness was privately terrorizing his family, abusing his employees, and making disastrous financial investments as well as brawling and womanizing. What was not revealed in the trial, however, was that seven years earlier, in a homicide that had never been solved, the body of Cavaness's firstborn son, Mark, had been found shot dead in the woods of Little Egypt. In addition to a compelling chronicle that uncovers the truth behind two ghastly crimes and lays bare the Jekyll-Hyde psyche of their perpetrator, Murder in Little Egypt brings into stark midwestern light the hidden, gothic underside of an America bred on violence and bathed in blood. Views: 20
A woman with a bad attitude, a ship with extreme patience and a Guardian who is rescued from a brothel by his client. Let the fun ensue.Kora was born broken. Her body cracked at the slightest touch and the Alliance offered her a chance at an actual life, with some conditions. Rebuilt, redesigned and bonded to a very patient ship, Kora flies from world to world picking up and dropping off whatever the Guardians need.Neuro has been working undercover in a brothel, gaining intel with pillow talk. Kora is sent in to recover him, and she does it with her own personal style. Once she has taken him to her ship, she has a problem. What does she do with him now? Odds are, he won’t like it. Views: 20
