From bestselling novelist Alexander McCall Smith comes a charming set of mysteries that will keep young readers guessing--and laughing--from the first clue to the last.
Harriet Bean loves nothing more than a good mystery, and is always ready to take on a new case. When Harriet Bean's father mentions that he has five sisters--whom Harriet has never met--she is immediately intrigued. Harriet is determined to uncover the whereabouts of her five lost aunts, but with nothing more than an unfinished family portrait and a few outdated clues, will she be able to locate them? In The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean, join Harriet in her search to reunite her father with his five lost sisters--Veronica, Harmonica, Majolica, Japonica, and Thessalonika.
In Harriet Bean and the League of Cheats, Harriet doesn't think twice when her mind-reading detective aunts Japonica and Thessalonika enlist her help to catch a cheat at the racetrack. After all, Harriet is just the right size to go undercover as a jockey. But when the plan takes an unexpected turn, Harriet finds herself in the saddle!
In The Cowgirl Aunt of Harriet Bean, when Harriet discovers that she has yet one more lost aunt--a cowgirl named Formica--she jumps at the chance to join her two detective aunts on a visit. Aunt Formica's ranch is being plagued by devious cattle rustlers, and she needs Harriet's help to track down the bandits and save the ranch. But the Wild West carries dangers all its own. . . Views: 537
“The life of a good dog is like the life of a good person, only shorter and more compressed,” writes Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anna Quindlen about her beloved black Labrador retriever, Beau. With her trademark wisdom and humor, Quindlen reflects on how her life has unfolded in tandem with Beau’s, and on the lessons she’s learned by watching him: to roll with the punches, to take things as they come, to measure herself not in terms of the past or the future but of the present, to raise her nose in the air from time to time and, at least metaphorically, holler, “I smell bacon!”
Of the dog that once possessed a catcher’s mitt of a mouth, Quindlen reminisces, “there came a time when a scrap thrown in his direction usually bounced unseen off his head. Yet put a pork roast in the oven, and the guy still breathed as audibly as an obscene caller. The eyes and ears may have gone, but the nose was eternal. And the tail. The tail still wagged, albeit at half-staff. When it stops, I thought more than once, then we’ll know.”
Heartening and bittersweet, Good Dog. Stay. honors the life of a cherished and loyal friend and offers us a valuable lesson on our four-legged family members: Sometimes an old dog can teach us new tricks.
From the Hardcover edition. Views: 536
It’s the 1830’s, and life has changed forever. A virus has swept across
the world, and now when you die, you’ll be coming back as one of the
undead - a Zombie – or Zum as people call them. The only way to prevent a
Zum infestation is to remove the head immediately after expiration –
and the sooner the better! Otherwise, they will be clawing their way out
of a coffin or a shallow grave. Huckleberry Finn – Tom Sawyer’s
best friend – is prudent around the dead, but he’s more afraid of his
father, a mean alcoholic who has taken to looting the newly-deceased for
easy drinking money. When Huck meets up with a runaway slave named Jim,
they decide to head out for a Northern free state. All they have to do
is steer clear of the local authorities, outrun Huck’s paw, and avoid
getting torn to pieces by wandering Zum. But the Zum have been
evolving… they’re learning how to speak and how to plan, and what
they’re planning is beyond anyone’s worst nightmares. They’re more
dangerous now than ever. Some criminals are even willing to kill
themselves just to make themselves a more terrible threat. The Undead.
Everywhere, local citizens have armed themselves and are willing to do
whatever it takes to stop this new horror. The old days are gone
forever. Huck has to stay a few steps ahead of anyone and everyone who
means to do him harm. It’s going to be difficult, and perhaps
impossible…but there aren’t any other options. Views: 536
From Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb, the bestselling authors of Meet Me in Monaco, comes a coming-of-age novel set in pre-WWII Europe, perfect for fans of Jennifer Robson, Beatriz Williams, and Kate Quinn. Three cities, two sisters, one chance to correct the past . . . New York, 1937: When estranged sisters Clara and Madeleine Sommers learn their grandmother is dying, they agree to fulfill her last wish: to travel across Europe—together. They are to deliver three letters, in which Violet will say goodbye to those she hasn't seen since traveling to Europe forty years earlier; a journey inspired by famed reporter, Nellie Bly. Clara, ever-dutiful, sees the trip as an inconvenient detour before her wedding to millionaire Charles Hancock, but it's also a chance to embrace her love of art. Budding journalist Madeleine relishes the opportunity to develop her ambitions to report on the growing threat of Hitler's Nazi... Views: 536
“An ardent fan letter from Hornby that makes you want to re-read Great Expectations while listening to Sign o’ the Times.” —VogueFrom the bestselling author of Just Like You, High Fidelity, and Fever Pitch, a short, warm, and entertaining book about art, creativity, and the unlikely similarities between Victorian novelist Charles Dickens and modern American rock star PrinceEvery so often, a pairing comes along that seems completely unlikely—until it’s not. Peanut butter and jelly, Dennis Rodman and Kim Jong Un, ducks and puppies, and now: Dickens and Prince.Equipped with a fan’s admiration and his trademark humor and wit, Nick Hornby invites us into his latest obsession: the cosmic link between two unlikely artists, geniuses in their own rights, spanning race, class, and centuries—each of whom electrified their different disciplines and whose legacy resounded... Views: 536
Let me get this straight. I'm on a trip with the following people:1) Bronte, a girl who makes magical 'Spellbinding' rings,2) Alejandro, a former pirate/current prince who can shoot arrows and make fire from stones,3) Imogen, who can read broken maps and is a kickboxing master,4) Esther, who saved her entire world from some kind of ancient monster, 5) Astrid, a smart ten year old who can read minds, and6) Gruffudd, a surprisingly speedy (and always hungry) Elf.And who am I? Just a kid who skips school to ride a skateboard.The Astonishing Chronicles of Oscar from Elsewhere is the account of Monday through Friday of last week. That's when Oscar found himself on a quest to locate nine separate pieces of a key, held by nine separate people, in order to unlock a gluggy silver spell that had trapped the Elven city of Dun-sorey-lo-vay-lo-hey. The quest was an urgent one. Friday at noon, the spell... Views: 536
Mitch Peatwick is a private detective who's about to go out of business if he doesn't land a new client. He's ready to quit, when Mae Sullivan strolls into his office. The gorgeous, smart-mouthed woman has a family straight out of Goodfellas -- and a case he can't afford to turn down. Mae wants Mitch to find her uncle's killer, his diary and the missing family fortune. He accepts the case, but soon finds himself involved with Mae in more ways than just the investigation. Views: 536
Anna Lutz Abbot considers herself independent and happy, until one steamy summer when she must find a way to deal with the secrets of her unpredictable family-and her past. Views: 536
Part 2 of the full Hideout Adventure!
The Man With The Plan and his friends return in this fifth romp in the Swindle series!
HIDEOUT: a place to escape detection, especially when being chased by someone determined to have revenge. . .
When Griffin Bing and his friends first met Luthor, he was a vicious attack dog working for the slimy S. Wendell Palomino - as known as Swindle. The kids rescued Luthor, and never thought they'd see Swindle again.
But now Swindle's returned. And he wants his dog back.
Swindle has manipulated the law so that there's no way for Savannah Drysdale to keep Luthor in her house. Before he can be taken away, they decide to made him disappear - away from Swindle.
Six kids. Three hideouts. One extremely large dog.
What could possibly go wrong? Views: 535
Four thrilling books. Read the entire series in one collection!
Nocturnal
Seventeen-year-old Ava-Claire Sullivan isn't one for doing the expected. Especially when she finds out her mother's cancer is terminal. After a crying session in the local cemetery where she's attacked by one strange guy and saved by another, she doesn't call the cops. Because those guys definitely weren't your average hooligans.
And the one who sort-of saved her? Well, he's odd. He doesn't seem to breathe or smile or have anything better to do than wait in the cemetery for Ava to come back. Which she does. Call it morbid curiosity. Even after her warns her that he's dangerous, she can't stop wanting to see him, talk to him, be with him.
There's something about Peter that provides a much-needed escape from her mother's diagnosis and her tenuous relationship with her father. Even her best friends Jamie and Texas don't know what it's like to face death. But Peter does. He already has. He also made a promise a long time ago that could destroy both of them.
When everything in your life is falling apart, what are you willing to give up to hold onto the one thing that could last forever?
Nightmare
Ava-Claire Sullivan's first mistake was becoming vampire Peter Mackintire's personal blood bank. Her second mistake was falling in love with him.
Now it's Ava's job to make sure he never loves her in return. A pact Peter made nearly a hundred years ago means loving someone will kill him. If she can figure out how to free him from his promise, it might kill her, make her immortal, or lead to the love she wants so badly.
But if she doesn't, at best her heart will break...and at worst, Peter will die.
Neither
For Ava-Claire Sullivan, it's bad enough that loving vampire Peter Mackintire might kill him the rest of the way. His equally immortal mother keeps trying to murder her so Di won't lose another of her precious sons.
A promise Peter made nearly a hundred years ago means loving someone will kill him. Ava's done her best to either end her own feelings or stifle his, but she's losing; he's falling harder for her every night. She hasn't found a way to free him of his promise yet, and it's almost too late.
But her own terminally ill mother is dying fast, and now Ava-Claire is forced to choose between the last days of her mother's life and freeing Peter as they wait for Di to come up with yet another plan to destroy their love, and Ava's life.
Neverend
Ava-Claire Sullivan is ready for immortality.
Peter Mackintire is ready to give it to her.
Texas Hamilton is afraid of losing her best friend.
Viktor Belikov is just trying to figure out what he wants.
In the exciting conclusion to The Noctalis Chronicles, lives will be ended (and begun again), loyalties will be tested, hearts will be broken and new ties will be forged.
Being human isn’t easy, but not being human is even harder. Views: 535
In this extraordinary novel, William Boyd presents the autobiography of John James Todd, whose uncanny and exhilarating life as one of the most unappreciated geniuses of the twentieth century is equal parts Laurence Stern, Charles Dickens, Robertson Davies, and Saul Bellow, and a hundred percent William Boyd.
From his birth in 1899, Todd was doomed. Emerging from his angst-filled childhood, he rushes into the throes of the twentieth century on the Western Front during the Great War, and quickly changes his role on the battlefield from cannon fodder to cameraman. When he becomes a prisoner of war, he discovers Rousseau's Confessions, and dedicates his life to bringing the memoir to the silver screen. Plagued by bad luck and blind ambition, Todd becomes a celebrated London upstart, a Weimar luminary, and finally a disgruntled director of cowboy movies and the eleventh member of the Hollywood Ten. Ambitious and entertaining, Boyd has invented a most irresistible hero.
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 535
From the author of The Loosening Skin and The Beauty, Aliya Whiteley, Skein Island is a powerful and disturbing look at the roles we play, and how they form and divide us. This new edition features a brand new novelette set in the same world as Skein Island.Skein Island, a private refuge twelve miles off the coast of Devon, lies in turbulent waters. Few receive the invitation to stay for one week, free of charge. If you are chosen, you must pay for your stay with a story from your past; a Declaration for the Island's vast library.What happens to your Declaration after you leave the island is none of your concern.From the monsters of Ancient Greece to the atrocities of World War II, from heroes to villains with their seers and sidekicks by their sides, Skein Island looks through the roles we play, and how they form and divide us. Powerful and disturbing, it is a story over... Views: 535
When one woman sets out to make her lover's dream come true with a sexy, secret present, she ends up on the receiving end of a hot fantasy.Previously published in Change of Pace: Erotic Interludes (Bold Strokes Books, 2004). Views: 535
