Sky and River have always lived on Island, the only world they've ever known. Until the day River spots a boat. Across Ocean, in a place called California, Sky is separated from River and forced to live with a grandmother she's just met. Here the rules for survival are different. People rely on strange things like cars and cell phones. They keep secrets from one another. And without River, nothing makes sense. Sky yearns for her old life where she was strong and capable, not lost and confused. She must find River so they can return to Island, but the truth behind how they ended up there in the first place will come as the biggest shock of all. Views: 47
'We were on one of the technologically most advanced places on earth but the guys in grease-smeared brown sweat shirts and floatcoats, draped with heavy brown chains, looked like they were ready to face the burning oil poured on them from the walls of an impregnable castle. The combination of medieval (chains) and sci-fi (cranials and dark visors) didn't quite cover it though; there was also an element of the biker gang about them. All things considered, theirs was one of the toughest, roughest looks going. No wonder they stood there, lounging with the grace of heavy gun-slingers about to sway into the saloon. Every gesture was determined by having to move in this under-water weight of chain. I couldn't keep my eyes off them. They weren't posing. But in this silent world everyone is looking at everyone else the whole time, all communication is visual, so you're conscious, if you're a guy with a load of chains hanging from your shoulders like an ammo belt, that you're the fulfilment of some kind of fantasy-not a sexual one, more like a fantasy of evolution itself. And they weren't swaggering, there was just the ease that comes from having to minimise effort if a task is to be properly done, especially if a good part of that task involves standing around waiting with all that weight on your shoulders.' In November 2011, Geoff Dyer fulfilled a childhood dream: spending time on an aircraft carrier. Geoff 's stay on the USS George Bush - on active service in the Arabian Gulf - proved even more intense, memorable - and frequently hilarious - than he could ever have hoped. The warship become a microcosm for a stocktaking of modern Western life: Religion, drugs, chauvinism, farting, gyms, steaks, prayer, parental death, relationships and how to have a beach party with 5000 people on a giant floating hunk of steel. Piercingly perceptive and gloriously funny, this is a unique book about work, war and entering other worlds. Views: 47
In the tradition of Paula McLain's The Paris Wife and Laura Moriarty's The Chaperone comes a sweeping historical love story and a portrait of an age. Vienna Nocturne is a deeply moving debut novel that brings to life two extraordinary figures--a thirty-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and a young English soprano, Anna Storace, who was his muse--in prose as spirited, timeless, and touching as Mozart's greatest compositions. In late-eighteenth-century London, a young girl takes her first singing lessons with a mysterious castrato in exile. Her life is forever changed. Having learned everything he can teach her, Anna leaves behind all the security and familiarity of home and journeys to Naples and Venice to struggle and triumph in Italy's greatest opera houses. Only sixteen, she finds herself in an intoxicating world of theaters, nobility, and vice, overwhelmed by her newfound freedom and fame. Her first bitter experience of love and heartbreak... Views: 47
Sparks are flying in the City of Light Emma Brooks, single mom and managing
director at the leading recruiting firm in Paris, was against their merger with an
American company from the start. Not only was her firm losing its autonomy, she was
losing her well-deserved promotion to Cole Dorset - a handsome, arrogant interloper from
New York! How did Cole’s ex-girlfriend’s dream of moving to Paris become his nightmare?
Now he’s got to find his way in a new country, and the woman showing him the ropes wants
to string him up by one. But as he gets to know Emma and her daughter, he realizes Paris
may have more to offer than he thought. Views: 47
This novel is a psychological thriller as well as a compelling crime read.The discovery of the skeleton of a young woman by workmen causes Detective Inspector Tim Yates to reopen the gruesome case of Dorothy Atkins, a woman who was imprisoned for murdering her mother-in-law, Doris Atkins, more than thirty years before. What is the link between the skeleton and Dorothy Atkins, now the aged inmate of a care home? Her former husband, Ronald, and her son, Hedley, each appears to have something to hide, and both only grudgingly co-operate with the police. What happened to Bryony Atkins, Dorothy's and Ronald's daughter, and why is everyone so reluctant to talk about her? Hedley Atkins has recently allowed a relatively new friend, Peter Prance, to move into his flat, and he is introduced to Peter's family in Liverpool. Is Peter simply a persuasive upper class scrounger, or is there something more calculated in his relationship with Hedley? Did Dorothy in... Views: 47
Book-smart Melissa Fletcher lives a predictable life in her hometown, working behind the scenes for her charismatic father in a financial career that makes perfect sense. But when her dad is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Missy is forced to step up and take over as his primary caregiver and the principal of the firm.
After her father’s death, Missy finds a letter from him in which he praises her for being a dutiful daughter but admonishes her for not taking any risks in life.
Devastated, Missy packs her suitcase and heads for Italy. There she meets a new friend who proposes a radical idea. Soon, Missy finds herself in impoverished India, signing away her inheritance and betting on a risky plan while rekindling a lost love.
The Light of Hidden Flowers is a deeply felt story of accepting who we are while pushing our boundaries to see how much more we can become. It’s a reminder that it’s never too late to pursue our dreams.
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