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The Weaker Vessel: Women's Lot in Seventeenth-Century England

Just how weak were the women of the Civil War era? What could they expect beyond marriage and childbirth in an age where infant and maternal mortality was frequent and contraception unknown? Did anyone marry for love? Could a woman divorce? What rights had the unmarried? What expectations the widows? An expert on the period, Antonia Fraser brings to life the many and various women she has encountered in her considerable research: governesses, milkmaids, fishwives, nuns, defenders of castles, courtesans, countesses, witches and widows.
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Career in C Major: And Other Fiction

From a famous tough-guy writer, a collection of shockingly funny stories Ever since she got married, Doris has regretted giving up her singing career. After years of domestic drudgery, she decides to take one last crack at becoming an opera singer, even if it means sacrificing everything for the sake of her dream. Her contractor husband is fully supportive, having no idea that the family’s true musical genius isn’t Doris—it’s him. In this and other stories in Career in C Major, James M. Cain shows off a light comedic touch that will surprise readers who are familiar only with his crime novels The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity. But Cain had been publishing funny stories, articles, and satire since his early days as a reporter for H. L. Mencken’s Baltimore Sun, and was just as comfortable writing about singers as he was about killers. This collection of Cain’s lighter work shows that if an author is tough it doesn’t mean he can’t crack a smile.
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Magic Hour

Dr. Julia Cates was one of the country's preeminent child psychiatrists until a shocking tragedy ruined her career. Retreating to her small western Washington hometown, Julia meets an extraordinary six-year-old girl who has inexplicably emerged from the deep woods nearby--a child locked in a world of unimaginable fear and isolation. To Julia, nothing is more important than saving the girl she now calls Alice. But Julia will need help from others, including the sister she barely knows and a handsome doctor with secrets of his own. What follows will test the limits of Julia's faith and strength, as she struggles to find a home for Alice . . . and for herself.
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Collateral

The gripping story of a woman torn between love for her boyfriend, a dedicated Marine deployed to Afghanistan, and the resentment she has for the war that is tearing their lives apart. Written in Hopkins's stunning poetic verse style, Collateral centers on Ashley, an MFA student at San Diego State University. She grew up reading books and never dreamed she would become a military wife. One night she meets a handsome soldier named Cole. He doesn't match the stereotype of the aggressive military man. He's passionate and romantic. He even writes poetry. Their relationship evolves into a sexually charged love affair that goes on for five years and survives four deployments. Cole wants Ashley to marry him, but when she meets another man, a professor with similar pursuits and values, she begins to see what life might be like outside the shadow of war. Collateral captures the hearts of the soldiers on the battlefield and the minds of the friends, family, and lovers they leave behind. Those who remain at home may be far away from the relentless, sand-choked skies of the Middle East and the crosshairs of a sniper rifle, but just the same, all of them will sacrifice a part of themselves for their country and all will eventually ask themselves if the collateral damage caused by war is worth the fight.
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Blood of My Blood

**Jazz Dent has never been closer to catching his father. **Jazz has been shot and left to die in New York. His girlfriend, Connie, is in the clutches of Jazz's monstrous father, Billy--the world's most notorious serial killer. And his best friend, Howie, is bleeding to death on the floor of Jazz's new home. Somehow, these three must rise above the horrors and find a way to come together in pursuit of Billy. But then Jazz crosses a line he's never crossed before, and soon the entire country is wondering: "Like father, like son? Who is the true monster?" From New York City to the small town of Lobo's Nod, the chase is on, and this time, Jazz is the hunted, not the hunter--while Billy Dent lurks in the shadows. And beyond Billy? Something much, much worse. Prepare to meet...the Crow King. From acclaimed author Barry Lyga comes the shocking conclusion to the bestselling I Hunt Killer trilogy.
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Golem

Amid the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp, a prisoner evokes the memory of Golem.Easter time again, and Wonka has allowed another Duffel story! With my illustrations too.... This time round Duffel is to be transported from that magical level two down to the seaside, where he has yet again another easy peasy quest (according to that Mr Watkins) and of course has the magical powers thanks to his coat to assist. The quest is now to rescue a beloved cat living rough at the famous Palace Theatre; will Duffel have enough magic to resist his encounter with the strange Madame Fortuna, and the ever present CPO? and is there to be a happy reunion with Sam, the dog he rescued on his last successful mission? Do read this new story and find out! Happy Easter to you with lots of love from me and Wonka x
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The Kingdom

Sam and Remi Fargo return for the thrilling third adventure in the acclaimed new series. In "Spartan Gold" and "Lost Empire," Clive Cussler brought readers into the world of husband-and-wife team Sam and Remi Fargo, whose passion and instinct for treasure-hunting has led to extraordinary discoveries-and perilous journeys. Their next adventure, however, might be their most astonishing yet. The Fargos are used to hunting for treasure, not people. But then a Texas oil baron contacts them with a personal plea: an investigator friend of the Fargos' was on a mission to find the oil baron's missing father -- and now the investigator is missing, too. Would Sam and Remi be willing to look for them both? Though something about the situation doesn't quite add up, the Fargos agree to go on the search. What they find will be beyond anything they could have imagined. On a journey that will take them to Tibet, Nepal, Bulgaria, India, and China, the Fargos will find themselves embroiled with black-market fossils, a centuries-old puzzle chest, the ancient Tibetan kingdom of Mustang, a balloon aircraft from a century before its time... and a skeleton that could turn the history of human evolution on its head. Packed with the endless imagination and breathtaking suspense that are his hallmarks, "The Kingdom" once again proves that Clive Cussler is "just about the best storyteller in the business" ("New York Post").
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Exercises in Style

The plot of Exercises in Style is simple: a man gets into an argument with another passenger on a bus. However, this anecdote is told 99 more times, each in a radically different style, as a sonnet, an opera, in slang, and with many more permutations. This virtuoso set of variations is a linguistic rust-remover, and a guide to literary forms.
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The Chase

Tess Brady is forced to participate in an old pack ritual: the Chase. Unmated male wolves will pursue her and the one who catches her gets the ultimate prize: her as a mate. After seeing what type of matings result from such a ritual, Tess is determined not to be caught, but can she escape such strong and smart wolves? Or will she end up with a male worse than her abusive father?Tess is from an extremely traditional pack. Returning to her pack after four years away at college, as an unmated female, she must participate in an old pack ritual: the Chase.Unmated wolves from her pack pursue her and the one who catches her gets the ultimate prize: her as a mate.However, Tess knows how males treat their mates and wants no part of it, determined to evade capture during the chase… but can she outrun and outsmart such strong males? Or will she be forced into mating with a male as bad, or perhaps worse, than her abusive father?~*~“The Chase” is a werewolf romance short story (just under 10,000 words). It is part of a series, but no other books need to be read in order to understand the events in “The Chase.” Other books in the “Wolves Among Us” series include “Broken,” a novelette, and a sequel to "The Chase" is coming soon!
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Budding Prospects: A Pastoral (Contemporary American Fiction)

All Felix Nasmyth and friends have to do is harvest a crop of Cannabis Sativa... ...and half a million tax-free dollars will be theirs. But they haven't reckoned on nosy Northern California-style neighbors, torrential rain, demands of the flesh, and Felix's improbable new love, a wayward sculptress on whose behalf he undertakes a one-man vendetta against a drug-busting state trooper named Jerpbak. As their deal escalates through crises into nightmare, their dreams of easy money get nipped in the bud.
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The Crossing of Ingo

The crossing of Ingo is an ancient and dangerous coming-of-age ritual: a journey to the bottom of the world. Sapphy and Conor have been called to take part, the first of human blood ever to make an attempt. But Ervys and his followers are determined to stop them: dead or alive. Helen Dunmore builds her classic, much-loved series up to a breathtaking finale.
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North River

It is 1934, and New York City is in the icy grip of the Great Depression. With enormous compassion, Dr. James Delaney tends to his hurt, sick, and poor neighbors, who include gangsters, day laborers, prostitutes, and housewives. If they can't pay, he treats them anyway. But in his own life, Delaney is emotionally numb, haunted by the slaughters of the Great War. His only daughter has left for Mexico, and his wife Molly vanished months before, leaving him to wonder if she is alive or dead. Then, on a snowy New Year's Day, the doctor returns home to find his three-year-old grandson on his doorstep, left by his mother in Delaney's care. Coping with this unexpected arrival, Delaney hires Rose, a tough, decent Sicilian woman with a secret in her past. Slowly, as Rose and the boy begin to care for the good doctor, the numbness in Delaney begins to melt. Recreating 1930s New York with the vibrancy and rich detail that are his trademarks, Pete Hamill weaves a story of honor, family, and one man's simple courage that no reader will soon forget.
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The Iron Heel

The Iron Heel is a dystopian novel by American writer Jack London, first published in 1908. Generally considered to be "the earliest of the modern Dystopian," it chronicles the rise of an oligarchic tyranny in the United States. It is arguably the novel in which Jack London's socialist views are most explicitly on display. A forerunner of soft science fiction novels and stories of the 1960s and 1970s, the book stresses future changes in society and politics while paying much less attention to technological changes.
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That Old Ace in the Hole

Folks in the Texas panhandle do not like hog farms. But Bob Dollar is determined to see his new job as hog site scout for Global Pork Rind through to the end. However he is forced to face the idiosyncratic inhabitants of Woolybucket and to question his own notions of loyalty and home. A brilliant novel from Pulitzer Prize-winning Annie Proulx, author of The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain. That Old Ace in the Hole is a richly textured story of one man's struggle to make good in the inhospitable ranch country of the Texas panhandle, told with razor-sharp wit and a masterly sense of place.
Views: 894