As a girl, Maggie dreams of joining the Sisters, a group of women who enjoy the status and attention afforded by their beautiful wings. Now, years later, she has wings of her own. But an encounter in the woods forces her to reckon with her past—and the painful price her wings demanded.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied. Views: 222
A young woman must find her way in the world again after years of nursing her ailing mother in this novel by the bestselling author of Once in a Blue Moon I, Gracie, survived . . . When Mama announced to our family that she had dementia, my brother and sisters insisted they couldn't help. They had their own lives elsewhere, after all. So, I gave up my dreams and spent the next nine years caring for Mama alone, losing her bit by bit, and nearly losing myself in the process. I, Gracie, started over . . . After Mama finally let go of this world, I let go of that world, too. I left the nightmare of my life with Mama, my family, and West Texas to start over in a new place, far away. It took some doing, but I have a new job, a safe place to live, and even new friends and a man who loves me, broken as I am. But . . . I, Gracie, am scarred . . . Until my past is buried like Mama, I keep my man waiting—struggling with what was and... Views: 222
A Dickensian coming-of-age tale about poverty, sex, World War I, and the darker side of human nature as seen through the eyes of a lobby boy in a Budapest hotel.Abject poverty is an unusual subject for the novel, but it is at the center of John Szekely's Dickensian tale of a young man coming of age in Budapest between the wars. Illegitimate and unwanted, Bela is no sooner born than his mother packs him off to the country to be looked after by a peasant woman; when she stops paying her son's keep, he is systematically starved, as well as ostracized, bullied, and kept out of school. He does his best to hold his own, but it is years before his mother comes for him and brings him back to live with her in the city. There she remains in thrall of his feckless father, Mishka, who comes and goes until at last, once and for all, he is gone, even as she works her fingers to the bone and leaves Bela to share his room with a hardworking prostitute. Living in a crowded tenement,... Views: 222
The definitive memoir of the celebrated New Yorker cartoonist and former Saturday Night Live writer, tracing his creative and personal journey from his humble Canadian child- and early-adulthood to his "Mad Men" advertising days and New York City success.From austere post-WWII Ontario (Simcoe County) to Mad Men-era New York City to the hallowed halls of Saturday Night Live and The New Yorker, Bruce McCall has seen it all. With wit, candor, and showcasing cover illustrations from Bruce's storied career, his lifetime and career memoir will charm his many fans and anyone who knows and loves the places and eras he describes so well.Excerpt from HOW DID I GET HERE?:"I've virtually always written and drawn simultaneously and can offer no scientific reason for it. I'm an artist and a writer—maybe better defined as writer who draws and paints. My first act in making an illustration is to pepper a page with free-form,... Views: 222
Fans of the Lady Julia Grey Mysteries will love this all-new Lady Anne Addison Mystery from Victoria Hamilton . . . While in Bath preparing for her upcoming marriage to Lord Darkefell, Lady Anne learns of a profoundly accurate mystic working in town whose uncanny predictions have stunned the gullible and the skeptical alike. Certain there's a harmless rational explanation for the medium's supposed otherworldly abilities, Anne's tolerance turns to defiance when the seer's dark pronouncements begin having a decidedly harmful affect on her friends—and a troubled local vicar takes his own life. Convinced that the woman is orchestrating a devious scheme, Anne begins to suspect that she's working in league with a shrewd newcomer who's attached himself to many of the town's wealthy widowers. As she navigates the swirling rumors of Bath society to confirm her suspicions and unmask the charlatans for what they are, she discovers... Views: 222
Uncover everything you need to know about "deepfakes" and what could become the biggest information and communications meltdown in world history.In a world of deepfakes, it will soon be impossible to tell what is real and what isn't. As advances in artificial intelligence, video creation, and online trolling continue, deepfakes pose not only a real threat to democracy — they threaten to take voter manipulation to unprecedented new heights. This crisis of misinformation which we now face has since been dubbed the "Infocalypse."In DEEPFAKES, investigative journalist Nina Schick uses her expertise from working in the field to reveal shocking examples of deepfakery and explain the dangerous political consequences of the Infocalypse, both in terms of national security and what it means for public trust in politics. This all-too-timely book also unveils what this all means for us as individuals, how deepfakes will be used to intimidate and to... Views: 222
A doctor in 1965 Miami is embroiled in international intrigue in this thrilling adventure from the author of the Duncan Maclain Mysteries.In 1960, Dr. Antonio Carrillo fled Havana for freedom in Miami. Now, five years later, Tony works as a resident internist at the local VA hospital, and one hot summer day, he receives a phone call from a young woman who needs his help. A yacht pulling into Miami's harbor has rescued an ill man from the water. When Tony sees the patient, he's shocked to discover it's his father-in-law.Ernesto Garcia ran the vicious secret police under Batista and went on to become a commander in Castro's Rebel Army. He wasn't a man to be trifled with . . . so what was he doing floating around in the ocean? As Tony investigates, he discovers that Milagros, the wife he thought died in Cuba, is alive. Rescuing her now means returning to his homeland and putting his life on the line. But the good doctor has a few surprises of his own up his... Views: 222
Maybe the gray was not where people went to get lost. Maybe it was the perfect place to be reborn. For in that gray was the potential to be anything, to become anyone.Returning to protagonist school had confronted me with a mixed bag of change. Some things were good. I was a star athlete on my Twenty-Three Skidd team, my friends and I were closer than ever, I'd made amends with my traditionalist headmistress, and the surprisingly kind grandson of King Midas was doing his best to win my affection.Other changes, however, were not so sweet. The greater realm now knew about my Pure Magic, and an upcoming trial by the realm higher-ups and Fairy Godmothers would decide my fate. My former princess archenemy was under a sleeping curse, which meant we couldn't access the vital memories of a dead Fairy Godmother stored in her brain. The commons rebellion in our realm was only growing in strength. And I . . . Well, I'd taken my first life. The antagonist queen's careful... Views: 222
