By that same architectural gesture of grief which caused Jehan at Agra to erect the Taj Mahal in memory of a dead wife and a cold hearthstone, so the Bon Ton hotel, even to the pillars with red-freckled monoliths and peacock-backed lobby chairs, making the analogy rather absurdly complete, reared its fourteen stories of "elegantly furnished suites, all the comforts and none of the discomforts of home." Views: 158
To get to him, I need to use her.
I’ll play her like a violin and have her falling in love with me before she even knows what’s happening.
It will be easy. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again.
She’s just a girl.
A tool to get what I want.
When I’m done with her I won’t think twice about walking away.
At least, that was what I thought.
Until I met her. Views: 158
The year is 1667; Sir Francis Courteney and his son Hal are on patrol in their fighting caravel off the Agulhas Cape of South Africa. They are lying in wait for one of the treasure-laden galleons of the Dutch East India Company returning from the Orient. So begins a quest for adventure and the spoils of war that sweeps them from the settlement of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa to the Great Horn of Ethiopia far to the north - at a time when international maritime law permitted acts of piracy, rape, and murder otherwise punishable by death. Wilbur Smith introduces a generation of the indomitable Courteneys and thrillingly re-creates their part in the struggle for supremacy and riches on the high seas. Views: 158
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. Views: 158
Osamu Dazai is one of the most famous—and infamous—writers of 20th-century Japan. A Shameful Life (Ningen shikkaku) is his final published work and has become a bestselling classic for its depiction of the tortured struggle of a young man to survive in a world that he cannot comprehend. Paralleling the life and death of Dazai himself, the delicate weaving of fact and fiction remorselessly documents via journals the life of Yozo, a university student who spends his time in increasing isolation and debauchery. His doomed love affairs, suicide attempts, and constant fear of revealing his true self haunt the pages of the book and reveal a slow descent into madness. This dark tale nevertheless conveys something authentic about the human heart and its inability to find its true bearing. Views: 158
Possibility of Being is a selection of poems by one of the most moving and original writers of this century, Rainer Maria Rilke (1857-l926). The title (taken from one of the Sonnets to Orpheus, ''Ibis is the Creature") reflects the central concern of both Rilke's life and art: the achievement of "being," which this most spiritual yet least doctrinaire of modern German poets defined as "the experiencing of the completest possible inner intensity.''The eighty-four poems included in this small volume will serve as a sound and inviting introduction to Rilke's strategies in the pursuit of "being." And just as the unicorn in "This Is the Creature" has an eternal "possibility of being" but only becomes visible in the mirror held by a virgin, so can our own possibilities become manifest in the mirror held by the sensitive artist. The poems are chosen from The Book of Hours (1899-1903), The Book of Images (1902 and 1906), New Poems (1907 and 1908),... Views: 158
Published in 1905, this story of love and adventure in early seventeenth century France features the handsome, devil-may-care Bardelys, favorite of the dissolute Louis XIII, who enters into a wager with the king that will lead to Bardelys losing his heart . . . and very nearly his head. Views: 158
Randall Parish was a 19th century American author best known for writing popular dime novels like Wolves of the Sea. Views: 158
"...the finest book on India since Kipling." India 1620: India is ruled by the son of the great Akbar, and is about to pass his crown to one of his sons. Brian Hawksworth, ship\'s captain and emissary of King James, must choose sides, but will he choose correctly? The future of England, and of India, depend on it. He had come to India to open trade for "barbaric" England and squeeze out the Portuguese, who try to kill him at every opportunity. But once on land, he becomes captivated by the country and the people. The beauty and romance of the exquisite Moghul Empire seduce him from his material goals to a new quest for supreme sensuality in music, mystical visions, and sacred lovemaking. From pulse-pounding sea battles, to tiger hunts, war elephants, harems and forbidden love-The Moghul takes you on a breath-taking tour of the India that existed before the British Raj.
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
--This text refers to the Paperback edition. Views: 158
Your Next Breath from New York Times best selling author Iris Johansen
Catherine Ling is one of the CIA's most prized operatives. Raised on the streets of Hong Kong, she was pulled into the agency at the age of fourteen. If life has taught her anything, it is not to get attached, but there are two exceptions to that rule: her son Luke and her mentor Hu Chang. Luke was kidnapped at age two, and now, nine years later, he has astonishingly been returned to her. Catherine vows never to fail him again. Now, just as she is building a relationship with Luke, it seems that someone from Catherine's past is playing a deadly game with her, and using those she cares about as pawns. Three are dead already: the former prostitute who helped Catherine when she was out on the street, a CIA agent with whom she worked closely, and the informant who helped her free Luke. Someone is picking off the people Catherine cares about one by one, with the circle narrowing closer and closer to those she loves the most. Catherine has made many enemies throughout her life, and she has no choice but to weed through her past to find out who is targeting her now, and then go after the vicious killer herself. Views: 157
With his hated father dead, a man's life takes a dangerous turnHe doesn't cry when his father, Frank, dies. The old man was an abusive, self-absorbed drunk, and when cancer takes him to his deathbed, his son is there to watch. At Frank's final moment he leans over and whispers in his ear, letting the dying man know that he's glad to see him go.His only inheritance is a heavy, leather-bound book. He has never seen it before, and has trouble believing that his brutal, ignorant father ever touched something so beautiful. But the volume is well-thumbed, full of aphorisms and advice written in the dead man's hand. Soon after he reads it, the son finds his life spiraling out of control. If he doesn't want to follow Daddy to the grave, he had best heed the lessons of the book. Views: 157
A suburban New Jersey high school teacher confronts a student-body election gone haywire in this darkly comic novel by the author of The Wishbones. Scheduled for release as a feature film in 1998, starring Matthew Broderick.Who really cares who gets elected President of Winwood High School? Nobody -- except Tracy Flick. Tracy's one of those students of boundless energy and ambition who somehow finds the time to do everything -- edit the school paper, star in the musical, sleep with her favorite teacher. Her heart is set on becoming President of Winwood, and what Tracy wants, Tracy gets. With weeks to go before election day, her victory is nearly a foregone conclusion.
And that's just the problem, according to Mr. M -- a.k.a. Jim McAllister, faculty, advisor to the Student Government Association and a popular Winwood history teacher. In the name of democracy -- not to mention a simmering grudge against Tracy Flick -- Mr. M recruits the perfect opposition candidate. Paul Warren is a golden boy, a football hero with a brain and a heart, eager to bulk up his meager resume.
As Winwood High experiences election fever, Mr. M is distracted by a sudden attraction to his wife's best friend. The two dramas he has created -- one personal and private, the other public and political -- unfurl simultaneously, with all the players sharing in a life-altering conclusion.
Part satire, part soap opera, Election is an uncommon look at an ordinary American high school, and the extraordinary people who inhabit it. Views: 157
James Patterson's bestselling Middle School series is now a major motion picture! Catch up with everyone's favorite troublemaker Rafe Khatchadorian when he gets lost in London on the worst field trip EVER! After a mostly-successful stint at Hills Valley Middle School, Rafe is excited to visit the incredible city of London with his class. Sightseeing around a foreign country sounds like a blast, until Rafe finds out his roommate will be none other than Miller the Killer, bully extraordinaire! Then Rafe is forced to work on a class project side by side with his crush Jeanne Galletta and her too-perfect boyfriend, which might be even more torturous than rooming with Miller. And it's no surprise that Rafe's bad luck follows him across the pond, putting him in one crazy situation after another--all under the watchful eye of his bad-tempered principal. Out of all of his adventures, this trip could prove to be Rafe's most embarrassing yet, undoing everything good he has going for him back home!**ReviewPraise for Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life:A #1 New York Times Bestseller
A #1 Indiebound BestsellerA 2012 Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers A 2013 Hawaii's Children's Choice Award WinnerA 2013 ALSC Summer Reading List BookA 2010 Oregon Children's Choice Award WinnerA 2014 Oregon Reader's Choice Award Nomine
"As Patterson artfully weaves a deeper and more thought-provoking tale of childhood coping mechanisms and everyday school and family realities, readers are drawn into a deeper understanding of and compassion for the main characters."―*School Library Journal, starred review*
"A keen appreciation of kids' insecurities and an even more astute understanding of what might propel boy readers through a book.... a perfectly pitched novel."―*Los Angeles Times* "Cleverly delves into the events that make middle school so awkward: cranky bus drivers, tardy slips, bathroom passes and lots of rules.... Hopefully, this isn't the last we hear from Rafe Khatchadorian."―The Associated Press "It's a chatty, funny, engaging book.... filled with energetic cartoons... that will appeal to your little rebel, depicting teachers as dungeon-keepers, matadors and flying dragons. Patterson... knows how to structure a plot and builds in some surprising--even touching--twists.... Rafe is the bad boy with a heart of gold."―*New York Times* "The book's... dynamic artwork and message that 'normal is boring' should go a long way toward assuring kids who don't fit the mold that there's a place for them, too."―*Publishers Weekly* "Incredibly detailed and imaginative illustrations... add depth and humor.... an enjoyable story that even the most reluctant readers should enjoy."―*Library Media Connection* "There is substance as well as appeal here.... Patterson deftly manages the pace of revelations that take readers deeper into Rafe's fragile trust.... Readers ready for something else in the same vein but more substantive than Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Peirce's Big Nate should be introduced to Rafe."―*The Bulletin*About the Author
James Patterson holds the Guinness World Record for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers, and his books have sold more than 350 million copies worldwide. A tireless champion of the power of books and reading, Patterson created a children's book imprint, JIMMY Patterson, whose mission is simple: "We want every kid who finishes a JIMMY Book to say, 'PLEASE GIVE ME ANOTHER BOOK.'" He has donated more than one million books to students and soldiers and funds over four hundred Teacher Education Scholarships at twenty-four colleges and universities. He has also donated millions to independent bookstores and school libraries. Patterson invests proceeds from the sales of JIMMY Patterson Books in pro-reading initiatives. Views: 157
