Lyman Frank Baum (May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) is one of America’s most read authors, and he is widely considered one of the premier authors of children’s books. Baum wrote dozens of novels and short stories, as well as hundreds of poems, and he even foresaw technological innovations such as computers, televisions and mobile phones, all of which made their way into his writing.Baum, however, is still best known and best regarded for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and several other titles that took place in the fantasy world of Oz. Every American is familiar with Dorothy and Toto, and Oz has been adapted for movies, screenplays, and more ever since. Views: 692
An interstellar craft is decelerating after its century-long voyage. Its destination is V538 Aurigae ?, a now-empty planet dominated by one gigantic megastructure, a conical mountain of such height that its summit is high above the atmosphere. The ship's crew of five hope to discover how the long-departed builders made such a colossal thing, and why: a space elevator? a temple? a work of art? Its resemblance to the mountain of purgatory lead the crew to call this world Dante. In our near future, the United States is falling apart. A neurotoxin has interfered with the memory function of many of the population, leaving them reliant on their phones as makeshift memory prostheses. But life goes on. For Ottoline Barragão, a regular kid juggling school and her friends and her beehives in the back garden, things are about to get very dangerous, chased across the north-east by competing groups, each willing to do whatever it takes to get inside Ottoline's private network and recover the secret inside. Purgatory Mount, Adam Roberts's first SF novel for three years, combines wry space opera and a fast-paced thriller in equal measure. It is a novel about memory and atonement, about exploration and passion, and like all of Roberts's novels it's not quite like anything else. Views: 692
After her father receives a large promotion at work, 21-year old Makenzie Adams is forced to move with her family from Oklahoma to Texas to finish her last year of college. She quickly falls in love and finds her soul mate in Caleb, one of her family’s new servants from the opposite side of the tracks. When her parents learn of the romance, the two are tragically forced apart.Another collection of original tales brought to you by The Indie Collaboration. This time we present a chocolate box selection of love stories. Some are romantic, some funny, some sad and some mysterious. Whatever the style, there will be a story or poem in here that will melt even the most hardened of hearts.The TalesALL THE WAY TO GENEVA BY Alan HardyLOVE ISN'T FAIR By Madhu Kalyan MattaparthiSUNNYSIDE By Peter JohnONE DAY IN THE RAIN By Priya BhardwajWHEN LOVE CAME KNOCKING By Sonya C. DoddTALES OF ERANA: THE LEGEND OF OELIANA By A. L. ButcherTHE PRINCE By Gunjan VyasLOVING HEARTS AND BLACK ARTS By D. C. RogersA LATTE TO GO By Chris RavenYOU CONTRADICT YOURSELF By Gunjan VyasTHE HEART WISH By Kristina BlasenThe PoemsEVAN AND JOAN By P.W CollierWISHES By William O'BrienA VALENTINE FROM MARCELLA By Greatest Poet AliveYOUR SMILE By Madhu Kalyan MattaparthiTO THE MOON By P.W CollierFORETOLD By William O'BrienTWO FLAVORS By Madhu Kalyan MattaparthiJUST HEAR ME OUT By Greatest Poet AliveBONDED By William O'BrienLOVE AT FIRST SIGHT By Madhu Kalyan MattaparthiETERNITY By William O'BrienFIRST KISS By Madhu Kalyan MattaparthiTHE FLEETING KISS By Peter JohnSERENE By Chris RavenWAIT FOR ME By Greatest Poet Alive Views: 692
Two-time-Newberry-Honor-winner Patricia Reilly Giff's Hunter Moran hunts for a long-buried treasure--tearing up the town and getting into some tight spots in the process in a humorous and heartwarming third book about Hunter. A companion to Hunter Moran Saves the Universe and Hunter Moran Hangs Out. Views: 692
From the winner of the first ever Man Booker International Prize: 'a novelist of dazzling mastery' (Independent)At the centre of young Ismail's world is the unknowable figure of his mother. Naïve and fragile as a paper doll, she is an unlikely presence in her husband's great stone house, with its hidden rooms and infamous dungeon, and is constantly at odds with her wise and thin-lipped mother-in-law. But despite her lightness and unchanging youthful nature, she is not without her own enigmas.Most of all, she fears that her intellectual son – who uses words she doesn't understand, publishes radical poetry, falls in love freely and seems to be renouncing everything she embodies of the old world – will have to exchange her for a superior mother when he becomes a famous writer. Dedicated to the memory of his mother and circling back to his childhood in Albania, The Doll is Ismail Kadare's delicate and disarming tale of home and... Views: 691
What if you died? What if you woke up in a land where anything seemed possible? A land of magic where wizards and dragons reigned. What if they asked you to lead a magical war against a being so powerful that he once obliterated an entire race? Would you?Rose accepts their challenge, beginning a dangerous, magical quest. It's aim - to destroy one of the greatest evils of all. “An epic fantasyWhen Sara left home for school that morning, she had no way of knowing that by the end of the day she would lose her earthly life, and would ascend to the Afterlands, a parallel world full of magic, excitement and danger. Sara was a Whyte ascendant, the first to ascend for over a thousand years and she was soon to discover that the people of the Afterlands believed her to be the Whyte foretold of in a prophecy, the Whyte in whose hands would rest the fate of their world. The Afterlands are part of a world where two forms of human life exist, mortal humans (the natives), and the ascendants. The Ascendants are magical, immortal beings whose life cycle takes them backwards and forwards between Terra Coram (Earth) and the Afterlands. When their earthly human form dies then their spirit vapor ascends again to the Afterlands taking on their ancient magical form once more. For over a thousand years, since the Great Dragon War and the death of the infamous Lord Ka the Afterlands had been in a state of relative peace, despite there being great prejudice and inequality between the casts (races). Three of the four casts still remained; the Golds, the Bloods and the Muds. The ancient and powerfully magical Whyte cast, were no more, the race having been wiped out by Lord Ka during the war. The Prophecy of Eldwyn the Whyte however, predicts that should the Afterlands ever again be threatened, then a Whyte would ascend once more.This is the story of how Sara, now known as Rose of the Whyte, adjusts to her fascinating and magical new life, makes friends and very quickly learns that she must seek out the incantatio, a powerful magic spell, in order to rescue the people of the Afterlands from Lord Ka, the Djinn of Erebus and their terrifying fire casting winged army of Afreet.Ascension of the Whyte is a tale of magic, evil, intrigue, injustice, dragons, friendship and courage, where the newly formed bodies of young ascendants become the vessels for magical, wise and ancient souls.Ascension of the Whyte is the first story of The Afterland Chronicles series.What readers are saying....“I haven’t been this excited about a book since I first read Harry Potter”“Intriguing, full of action and mystery it really makes you want to turn the pages, over and over again.”“Karen Wrighton has created a new exciting and fresh fantasy world, which rivals those of the great classics.” Views: 691
Single dad and Thunder Point's deputy sheriff "Mac" McCain has worked hard to keep everyone safe and happy. Now he's found his own happiness with Gina James. The longtime friends have always shared the challenges and rewards of raising their adolescent daughters. With an unexpected romance growing between them, they're feeling like teenagers themselves-suddenly they can't get enough of one another. And just when things are really taking off, their lives are suddenly thrown into chaos. When Mac's long-lost-and not missed-ex-wife shows up in town, drama takes on a whole new meaning. They're wondering if their new feelings for each other can withstand the pressure. . . but they are not going down without a fight. Views: 691
When London goes to a party, he comes to realize that it isn't as it seems. All of his friends are suddenly out to get him. He doesn't understand it. That is when he meets Janette, a girl that is more beautiful than anyone he has ever seen before. He knows at once that she is the one that is destined to save him—but can she?Jim Shoemaker comes upon an interesting new business venture of his neighbors, a never-ending yard sale. But there is more to this sale than meets the eye. Bram and Linda Cain are ideal folks, they're the perfect young couple with a terrible secret. Jim is about to find that their cute slogan "We Sell Anything" is more true than he could ever imagine.“Merchandise is an excellent book—a real page turner. Read it in one sitting.” – Kurt Frazier, author of 49098 to 36575If you like what you read, write a review and spread the word! Views: 691
No writer has rendered our boundariless, post-colonial world more acutely or prophetically than V. S. Naipaul, or given its upheavals such a hauntingly human face. A perfect case in point is this riveting novel, a masterful and stylishly rendered narrative of emigration, dislocation, and dread, accompanied by four supporting narratives.
In the beginning it is just a car trip through Africa. Two English people - Bobby, a civil servant with a guilty appetite for African boys, and Linda, a supercilious 'compound wife' - are driving back to their enclave after a stay in the capital. But in between lies the landscape of an unnamed country whose squalor and ethnic bloodletting suggest Idi Amin’s Uganda. And the farther Naipaul’s protagonists travel into it, the more they find themselves crossing the line that separates privileged outsiders from horrified victims. Alongside this Conradian tour de force are four incisive portraits of men seeking liberation far from home. By turns funny and terrifying, sorrowful and unsparing, In A Free State is Naipaul at his best. Views: 691
For the first time in English, a glittering novella about stardom from "one of the greatest avant-garde Japanese writers of the twentieth century" (Judith Thurman, The New Yorker)All eyes are upon Rikio. And he likes it, mostly. His fans cheer from a roped-off section, screaming and yelling to attract his attention—they would kill for a moment alone with him. Finally the director sets up the shot, the camera begins to roll, someone yells "action"; Rikio, for a moment, transforms into another being, a hardened young yakuza, but as soon as the shot is finished, he slumps back into his own anxieties and obsessions. Being a star, constantly performing, being watched and scrutinized as if under a microscope, is often a drag. But so is life. Written shortly after Yukio Mishima himself had acted in the film "Afraid to Die," this novella is a rich and unflinching psychological portrait of a celebrity coming apart at the seams. With exquisite, vivid... Views: 691
Preorder the next book in the heartwarming and bestselling Love Heart Lane series Love Heart Lane – where friends are there for you no matter what There's a newcomer to the village of Heartcross and she's never been more in need of friend. As the new manager of local bistro, The Lake House, Ella is ready to start afresh ––and that could mean there's love on the horizon in the form of the gorgeous Roman, the local water taxi driver. Every day Roman is there to ferry Ella to the restaurant on the other side of the lake and every night he makes sure she gets home safe. But Roman has secrets of his own... Can the Love Heart Lane community offer Ella a chance of a new life? Or will the ghosts of her past catch up with her? Views: 690
From the New York Times bestselling author of Ivy + Bean comes a hilarious new middle grade series featuring a high-energy, lovable, troublemaker.Meet Iggy Frangi. He's not a bad kid, he's really not. Okay, so he's done a few (a few is anything up to 100) bad things. And okay, he's not very sorry about most of them. People make a big deal about nothing. What's a little pancake here and there? Is that something to get mad about? Iggy doesn't think so. No one got hurt, so there's no problem. No one got hurt except for that one time, that one time when the Best Idea Ever turned into the Worst Idea of All Time.Iggy is sorry he did it. He is really, really, really sorry. "For what?" you might ask. "What did he do?"Well, you'll have to read the book to find out. Views: 690
