It's Easter in Reading—a bad time for eggs—and no one can remember the last sunny day. Ovoid D-class nursery celebrity Humpty Stuyvesant Van Dumpty III, minor baronet, ex-convict, and former millionaire philanthropist, is found shattered to death beneath a wall in a shabby area of town. All the evidence points to his ex-wife, who has conveniently shot herself.
But Detective Inspector Jack Spratt and his assistant Mary Mary remain unconvinced, a sentiment not shared with their superiors at the Reading Police Department, who are still smarting over their failure to convict the Three Pigs of murdering Mr. Wolff. Before long Jack and Mary find themselves grappling with a sinister plot involving cross-border money laundering, bullion smuggling, problems with beanstalks, titans seeking asylum, and the cut and thrust world of international chiropody.
And on top of all that, the JellyMan is coming to town . . . Views: 772
After surviving a disastrous battle at prom, Alyssa has embraced her madness and gained perspective. She's determined to rescue her two worlds and the people and netherlings she loves. Even if it means challenging Queen Red to a final battle of wills and wiles . . . and even if the only way to Wonderland, now that the rabbit hole is closed, is through the looking-glass world--a parallel dimension filled with mutated and violent netherling outcasts. In the final installment of the wildly popular Splintered trilogy, Alyssa and her dad journey into the heart of magic and mayhem in search of her mom and to set right all that's gone wrong. Together with Jeb and Morpheus, they must salvage Wonderland from the decay and destruction that has ensnared it. But if they succeed and come out alive, can everyone truly have their happily ever after? Views: 772
A humble thistle girl, a wise old philosopher, a hapless woodchopper, and an unscrupulous king—these are the vivid protagonists of Gardner’s masterful book for children. Richly and humorously drawn, they face challenges at every turn. And in a realm where any one of these unconventional heroes might triumph, the reader will delight in expecting the unexpected! Inventive and illustrative, entertaining and edifying, these four stories demonstrate the quirky challenges of distinguishing between good and evil and living happily ever after. Views: 772
Glenn Beck—author of thirteen #1 New York Times bestsellers—issues a startling challenge to people on both sides of the aisle to give up our addiction to outrage.
America is addicted to outrage, we’re at the height of a twenty-year bender, and we need an intervention. In Addicted to Outrage, New York Times bestselling author Glenn Beck addresses how America has become more and more divided—both politically and socially. Americans are now less accepting, less forgiving, and have lost faith in many of the country’s signature ideals, he says. We are quick to point a judgmental finger at the opposing party, are unwilling to doubt their own ideologies, and refuse to have any self-awareness whatsoever. Beck states that our current downward spiral will ultimately lead to the destruction of everything America has fought so hard to preserve. This is not simply a Republican problem. This is not simply a Democratic problem. This is everyone’s burden, and we need to think like recovering addicts and change.
With a nod to a traditional twelve-step program, each chapter encourages self-reflection and growth and shows us the way to a more hopeful, happy future. Beck draws from his own life experiences and includes relevant examples for each step, from families who learned to forgive killers to remembering to believe in something greater than ourselves to understanding the importance of humility. Addicted to Outrage is a timely and necessary guide for how Americans, right and left, must change to survive. Views: 771
First: kill Satan. Second: reorganize Hell. Sounded simple enough back then, but for Betsy Taylor, managing "down below" isn't as easy as she'd hoped - even if she is doing it with her sister, Laura, a bona-fide Antichrist. So yes, Betsy has been shirking her hellish responsibilities, but she's been just so darn busy these days. And she's not just yanking Laura's chain. There's a brand new baby drama involving a pair of uncanny (ok, terrifying) toddler twins, an upcoming birthday party that has to be planned, and, are you ready for it? Betsy's dad - once so very dead - has been spotted in downtown St. Paul.
Now, despite all the chaos, Betsy's friends rally around, helping her to handle all this fire and brimstone jazz. As for Betsy's sister and dad - they have their own surprises in store for the vampire queen. And jolt by jolt, Betsy will discover that there's nothing as heartwarming as family. Yeah, like Hell. Views: 771
With the world a harsh and cruel place and an enemy out to get you if he can, courtesy will not make you rich overnight but by degrees it makes others feel good and this in turn will make you feel even etter ... With more and more folk from the wrong side of the tracks, it is important to make more room at the bottom. 'The Unexpurgated Code' takes plain folk through the useful rules of social climbing. Views: 771
LONGLISTED 2015 – International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
A triumphant return to the characters of Booker Prize-winning writer Roddy Doyle's breakout first novel, The Commitments, now older, wiser, up against cancer and midlife.
Jimmy Rabbitte is back. The man who invented the Commitments back in the 1980s is now 47, with a loving wife, 4 kids...and bowel cancer. He isn't dying, he thinks, but he might be.
Jimmy still loves his music, and he still loves to hustle--his new thing is finding old bands and then finding the people who loved them enough to pay money online for their resurrected singles and albums. On his path through Dublin, between chemo and work he meets two of the Commitments--Outspan Foster, whose own illness is probably terminal, and Imelda Quirk, still as gorgeous as ever. He is reunited with his long-lost brother, Les, and learns to play the trumpet....
This warm, funny novel is about friendship and family, about facing death and opting for life. It climaxes in one of the great passages in Roddy Doyle's fiction: 4 middle-aged men at Ireland's hottest rock festival watching Jimmy's son's band, Moanin' at Midnight, pretending to be Bulgarian and playing a song called "I'm Goin' to Hell" that apparently hasn't been heard since 1932.... Why? You'll have to read The Guts to find out.
From the Hardcover edition. Views: 770
Musaicum Press presents to you a Arthur Morrison collection, which has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. Arthur Morrison (1863-1945) was an English author known for his detective stories, featuring the detective Martin Hewitt, realistic, lower class answer to Sherlock Holmes. Martin Hewitt stories are similar in style to those of Conan Doyle, cleverly plotted and very amusing, while the character himself is a bit less arrogant and a bit more charming than Holmes. Morrison is also known for his realistic novels and stories about working-class life in London\'s East End, A Child of the Jago being the best known. Table of Contents: Martin Hewitt Series: Martin Hewitt, Investigator The Lenton Croft Robberies The Loss of Sammy Crockett The Case of Mr. Foggatt The Case of the Dixon Torpedo The Quinton Jewel Affair The Stanway Cameo Mystery The Affair of the Tortoise Chronicles of Martin Hewitt The Ivy Cottage Mystery The Nicobar Bullion Case The Holford Will Case The Case of the Missing Hand The Case of Laker, Absconded The Case of the Lost Foreigner Adventures of Martin Hewitt The Affair of Mrs. Seton\'s Child The Case of Mr. Geldard\'s Elopement The Case of the Dead Skipper The Case of the "Flitterbat Lancers" The Case of the Late Mr. Rewse The Case of the Ward Lane Tabernacle The Red Triangle The Affair of Samuel\'s Diamonds The Case of Mr. Jacob Mason The Case of the Lever Key The Case of the Burnt Barn The Case of the Admiralty Code The Adventure of Channel Marsh Novels: A Child of the Jago To London Town Cunning Murrell The Hole in the Wall Short Stories: Tales of Mean Streets The Dorrington Deed Box The Green Eye of Goona (The Green Diamond) Divers Vanities Green Ginger Fiddle o\' Dreams and More Uncollected Stories Other Works: The Shadows Around Us Views: 770
How to tell a shattered story?
By slowly becoming everybody.
No?
By slowly becoming everything.
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness takes us on a journey of many years – the story spooling outwards from the cramped neighbourhoods of Old Delhi into the burgeoning new metropolis and beyond, to the Valley of Kashmir and the forests of Central India, where war is peace and peace is war, and where, from time to time, ‘normalcy’ is declared.
Anjum, who used to be Aftab, unrolls a threadbare carpet in a city graveyard that she calls home. A baby appears quite suddenly on a pavement, a little after midnight, in a crib of litter. The enigmatic S. Tilottama is as much of a presence as she is an absence in the lives of the three men who love her.
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is at once an aching love story and a decisive remonstration. It is told in a whisper, in a shout, through tears and sometimes with a laugh. Its heroes are people who have been broken by the world they live in and then rescued, mended by love – and by hope. For this reason, they are as steely as they are fragile, and they never surrender. This ravishing, magnificent book reinvents what a novel can do and can be. And it demonstrates on every page the miracle of Arundhati Roy’s storytelling gifts. Views: 770
Stotan: A cross between a Stoic and a SpartinIt's the last swimming season for Walker, Nortie, Lion, and Jeff, and their coach is building their self-discipline in a grueling four-hour-a-day test of stamina designed to bring them to the outer edge of their capabilities.As it turns out, Stotan Week is also the week in which secrets are revealed, and the four friends must draw upon their new strengths for an endurance they never knew they'd need. Views: 770
When Kayla embarks on a drive from Washington to Texas, she is just doing her job. When the black 1967 Impala starts showing up at every turn, she starts to think it might be more than coincidence. When the mysterious driver leaves her a note, she is engulfed in a race for her life. Red Snow is an urban retelling of a classic fairy tale. A short story.When Kayla embarks on a drive from Washington to Texas, she is just doing her job. When the black 1967 Impala starts showing up at every turn, she starts to think it might be more than coincidence. When the mysterious driver leaves her a note, she is engulfed in a race for her life. Kayla is tasked with defeating vampires, werewolves and evil witches that threaten to destroy her happiness and her very life! Will she get her happily ever after, or will she fall victim to the evil that courses through her veins? Red Snow is an urban retelling of a classic fairy tale. A short story. Views: 770
The story of England’s medieval queens is vivid and stirring, packed with tragedy, high drama and even comedy. It is a chronicle of love, murder, war and betrayal, filled with passion, intrigue and sorrow, peopled by a cast of heroines, villains, stateswomen and lovers. In the first volume of this epic new series, Alison Weir strips away centuries of romantic mythology and prejudice to reveal the lives of England’s queens in the century after the Norman Conquest.
Beginning with Matilda of Flanders, who supported William the Conqueror in his invasion of England in 1066, and culminating in the turbulent life of the Empress Maud, who claimed to be queen of England in her own right and fought a bitter war to that end, the five Norman queens emerge as hugely influential figures and fascinating characters.
Much more than a series of individual biographies, Queens of the Conquest is a seamless tale of interconnected lives and a rich portrait of English history in a time of flux. In Alison Weir’s hands these five extraordinary women reclaim their rightful roles at the centre of English history. Views: 770
