CONFRONTING Life, two people stood -- both discontent. And to the question, "What do you expect of me?" one made answer with weary voice: "I am distracted by the cruelty of thy contradictions. Feebly my reason strives to understand the meaning of existence, and with perplexing gloom my heart is filled before thee. My consciousness doth tell me man is the highest of creations." Views: 314
Eager to find the truth about her parents' divorce, the author examines her mother’s shenaas-nameh (identification card) in this third installment, hoping to find answers. This brings back memories of betrayal, greed, and sadness.Eager to find the truth about her parents' divorce, the author examines her mother’s shenaas-nameh (identification card) in this third installment, hoping to find answers. This brings back memories of betrayal, greed, and sadness. She is reminded of visiting her dad and his new wife after the divorce. The broken promises, and the disappointing truth that once surrounded her mother haunt the author now. She realizes that in order to move forward she must transcend the past but there is a huge distance between knowing and doing. Views: 314
'An exquisitely-written, generous, funny, thoughtful book about the everyday joys of being alive. I love it.' Dolly Alderton 'J. B. Priestley is one of our literary icons of the 20th Century and it is time that we all became re-acquainted with his genius.' Dame Judi Dench 'My apology, my little bit of penitence, for having grumbled so much, for having darkened the breakfast table, almost ruined the lunch, nearly silence the dinner party, for all the fretting and chafing, grousing and croaking, for the old glum look and the thrust-out lower lip. So my long-suffering kinsfolk, my patient friends, may a glimmer of that delight which has so often possessed me, but perhaps too frequently in secret, now reach you from these pages.' There are times when there doesn't seem much to smile about. And for those times, there is this book. J. B Priestley's 1949 classic teaches us that joy may be found in even the simplest things, and that we all have the capacity to appreciate them. Delight... Views: 314
Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a "baby farmer," who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby’s household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves—fingersmiths—for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home.
One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives—Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud’s vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of—passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum.
With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways...But no one and nothing is as it seems in this Dickensian novel of thrills and reversals. Views: 314
Do you love stories with sexy, romantic heroes who have it all—wealth, status, and incredibly good looks? Harlequin® Desire brings you all this and more with these three new full-length titles in one collection! This box set includes: The Marriage He DemandsWestmoreland Legacy: The OutlawsBy New York Times bestselling author Brenda Jackson Wealthy Alaskan Cash Outlaw has inherited a ranch and needs land owned by beautiful, determined Bianca Banks. She'll sign it over under one condition: Cash fathering the child she desperately wants. But he won't be an absentee father and makes his own demand... Twin GamesDynasties: Beaumont BayBy USA TODAY bestselling author Jules Bennett When music producer Will Sutherland signs country's biggest star, Hannah Banks, their mutual attraction is way too hot...so she switches with her twin to avoid... Views: 314
Casting light on the most serious of problems and at the same time saying not one serious sentence; being fascinated by the reality of the contemporary world and at the same time completely avoiding realism-that's The Festival of Insignificance. Readers who know Kundera's earlier books know that the wish to incorporate an element of the "unserious" in a novel is not at all unexpected of him. In Immortality, Goethe and Hemingway stroll through several chapters together talking and laughing. And in Slowness, Vera, the author's wife, says to her husband: "you've often told me you meant to write a book one day that would have not a single serious word in it... I warn you: watch out. Your enemies are lying in wait."Now, far from watching out, Kundera is finally and fully realizing his old aesthetic dream in this novel that we could easily view as a summation of his whole work. A strange sort of summation. Strange sort of epilogue. Strange sort of... Views: 314
Jeane Smith's a blogger, a dreamer, a dare-to-dreamer, jumble sale queen, CEO of her own lifestyle brand and has half a million followers on Twitter. Michael Lee's a star of school, stage and playing field. A golden boy in a Jack Wills hoodie. They have nothing in common but a pair of cheating exes. So why can't they stop snogging? Views: 314
An unforgettable epic romantic thriller about a girl from the future who might be able to save the world . . . if she lets go of the one thing she’s found to hold on to.
Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.
This is the story of seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn’t come from a different country. She came from a different time—a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins.
Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they’re from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth.
But everything changes when Prenna falls for Ethan Jarves.
From Ann Brashares, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, * The Here and Now * is thrilling, exhilarating, haunting, and heartbreaking--and a must-read novel of the year.
"This gripping story is set in a world unlike any other and inhabited by beautifully imagined characters that stay with you long after the last page. As always, Brashares expertly captures the wonder of love’s enduring power.” – Sara Shepard, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Little Liars
From the Hardcover edition. Views: 314
The essential first volume of bestselling author Peter S. Beagle's (The Last Unicorn) short stories demonstrates why he is one of America's most influential fantasists. With his celebrated versatility, humor, and grace, Beagle is at home in a dazzling variety of subgenres. Evoking comparison to such iconic authors as Twain, Tolkien, Carroll, L'Engle, and Vonnegut, this career retrospective celebrates Beagle's mastery of the short-story form."For over forty years, Peter S. Beagle has been the gold standard of fantasy."—Neil Gaiman, author of The Sandman[STARRED REVIEW] "Brimming with magic, lyrical prose, and deeply felt emotion, this is, indeed, essential reading."—KirkusAn unlikely friendship based on philosophy develops between an aging academic and a mythological beast. A mysterious, beautiful attendee who attends a ball thrown in her honor chooses whether or not to become mortal. A... Views: 314
Step into the powerhouse life of Bull Meecham. He's all Marine --- fighter pilot, king of the clouds, and absolute ruler of his family. Lillian is his wife -- beautiful, southern-bred, with a core of velvet steel. Without her cool head, her kids would be in real trouble. Ben is the oldest, a born athlete whose best never satisfies the big man. Ben's got to stand up, even fight back, against a father who doesn't give in -- not to his men, not to his wife, and certainly not to his son. Bull Meecham is undoubtedly Pat Conroy's most explosive character -- a man you should hate, but a man you will love. Views: 313
The kindly reception accorded to the first volume of the Historical Nights Entertainment, issued in December of 1917, has encouraged me to prepare the second series here assembled. As in the case of the narratives that made up the first volume, I set out again with the same ambitious aim of adhering scrupulously in every instance to actual, recorded facts; and once again I find it desirable at the outset to reveal how far the achievement may have fallen short of the admitted aim. On the whole, I have to confess to having allowed myself perhaps a wider latitude, and to having taken greater liberties than was the case with the essays constituting the previous collection. This, however, applies, where applicable, to the parts rather than to the whole. The only entirely apocryphal narrative here included is the first-"The Absolution." This is one of those stories which, if resting upon no sufficient authority to compel its acceptance, will, nevertheless, resist all attempts at final refutation, having its roots at least in the soil of fact. It is given in the rather discredited Portuguese chronicles of Acenheiro, and finds place, more or less as related here, in Duarte Galvao\'s "Chronicle of Affonso Henriques," whence it was taken by the Portuguese historical writer, Alexandre Herculano, to be included in his "Lendas e Narrativas." If it is to be relegated to the Limbo ........ Views: 313
On assignment in the Philippines, archaeologist Annja Creed meets with a contact to verify some information. Easy enough. But when the man doesn't turn out to be whom he said he was, Annja finds herself handcuffed, blindfolded and kidnapped. And to make matters worse, she's a prisoner of the dreaded Abu Sayyaf, a notorious terrorist group.
Desperate to escape, Annja is able to flee after slaying one of her captors. But she soon gets lost in the hostile jungle, which is rumored to be haunted by the spirits of Moro warriors who fought off conquistadors with their blades. As she tries to stay a step ahead of the terrorists and not-so-dead spirits with a taste for human flesh, Annja's not sure she'll leave the jungle alive.... Views: 313
