“As I remember, I had just woken up from a nap when I decided to create the universe.”
So begins Alan Lightman’s playful and profound new novel, Mr g, the story of Creation as told by God. Barraged by the constant advisements and bickerings of Aunt Penelope and Uncle Deva, who live with their nephew in the shimmering Void, Mr g proceeds to create time, space, and matter. Then come stars, planets, animate matter, consciousness, and, finally, intelligent beings with moral dilemmas. Mr g is all powerful but not all knowing and does much of his invention by trial and error.
Even the best-laid plans can go awry, and Mr g discovers that with his creation of space and time come some unforeseen consequences—especially in the form of the mysterious Belhor, a clever and devious rival. An intellectual equal to Mr g, Belhor delights in provoking him: Belhor demands an explanation for the inexplicable, requests that the newly created intelligent creatures not be subject to rational laws, and maintains the necessity of evil. As Mr g watches his favorite universe grow into maturity, he begins to understand how the act of creation can change himself, the Creator.
With echoes of Calvino, Rushdie, and Saramago, combining science, theology, and moral philosophy, Mr g is a stunningly imaginative work that celebrates the tragic and joyous nature of existence on the grandest possible scale. Views: 810
Living in small town Rockabill, Maine, Jane True always knew she didn't quite fit in with so-called normal society. During her nightly, clandestine swim in the freezing winter ocean, a grisly find leads Jane to startling revelations about her heritage: she is only half-human. Now, Jane must enter a world filled with supernatural creatures alternatively terrifying, beautiful, and deadly- all of which perfectly describe her new "friend," Ryu, a gorgeous and powerful vampire. It is a world where nothing can be taken for granted: a dog can heal with a lick; spirits bag your groceries; and whatever you do, never-ever rub the genie's lamp. Views: 810
When Querry, a world-famous architect, finds he no longer enjoys life or takes pleasure in art he sets off on a voyage. Arriving anonymously at a leper colony in the Congo, he is diagnosed as the mental equivalent of a 'burnt-out case', a leper mutilated by disease and amputation. Querry slowly moves towards a cure, his mind getting clearer as he works for the colony. However, in the heat of the tropics, no relationship with a married woman, however blameless, will ever be taken as innocent. Views: 810
The New York Times–bestselling memoir of pilgrimage and metamorphosis by the author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings (Viking, January 2014) and her daughter
Sue Monk Kidd has touched the hearts of millions of readers with her beloved novels and acclaimed nonfiction. Now, in this wise and engrossing dual memoir, she and her daughter, Ann, chronicle their travels together through Greece and France at a time when each was on a quest to redefine herself and rediscover each other.
As Sue struggles to enlarge a vision of swarming bees into a novel, and Ann ponders the classic question of what to do with her life, this modern-day Demeter and Persephone explore an array of inspiring figures and sacred sites. They also give voice to that most protean of human connections: the bond of mothers and daughters.
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From the author of the bestselling Whispers Series, comes a new fantasy saga...Witch Flame (A Keepers of the Stones prelude novelette)Feira, a fledgling witch just discovering her own powers, must battle warriors and monsters before she and her true love can find a safe haven away from the vengeful eye of a jealous goddess.Bonus read origin myth, The Beginning of Time, included.There’s something magic inside us all – and it’s trying to get out!The rules of chance, even physical laws, are breaking down. The time of magic is returning.And Bethlehem Jones finds she’s sharing her body with Lynese, an unpredictable water-sprite entrapped within one of her ancestors in an ancient war.Hell-bent on restarting that war, bigger, more powerful magical spirits are attempting to break free of their own human confinement. Can Beth use Lynese’s powers without relinquishing her own control? Or is untrustworthy Lynese her most dangerous foe of all? Views: 799
In Isak Dinesen's universe, the magical enchantment of the fairy tale and the moral resonance of myth coexist with an unflinching grasp of the most obscure human strengths and weaknesses. A despairing author abandons his wife, but in the course of a long night's wandering, he learns love's true value and returns to her, only to find her a different woman than the one he left. A landowner, seeking to prove a principle, inadvertently exposes the ferocity of mother love. A wealthy young traveler melts the hauteur of a lovely woman by masquerading as her aged and loyal servant.
Shimmering and haunting, Dinesen's Winter's Tales transport us, through their author's deft guidance of our desire to imagine, to the mysterious place where all stories are born.
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 799
A gang war is raging through the dark underworld of Brighton. Seventeen-year-old Pinkie, malign and ruthless, has killed a man. Believing he can escape retribution, he is unprepared for the courageous, life-embracing Ida Arnold.Greene's gripping thriller, exposes a world of loneliness and fear, of life lived on the 'dangerous edge of things'.
'In a class by himself-the ultimate chronicler of twentieth-century man's consciousness and anxiety' William Golding, Independent Views: 799
Alien invasion? Zombies? Vampires!? I don’t think so!When alien zombies invade Earth, vampires emerge to defend their food source, and 19-year-old Aria Danes teams up with the strangest group of eccentrics determined to take a stand for the human race. Caught in the middle of a zombie-vampire war, Aria must discover that her strengths outweigh her weaknesses.Alien invasion? Zombies? Vampires!? I don’t think so!Aria was an average 19-year-old with average problems. Average was quite realistic until zombies landed their UFO in her backyard. If Aria wants to survive, she’ll need some help, and who better than a pirate captain, a steampunk inventor, a bazooka wielding slayer, and a deranged Englishman who insists he is Doctor Who?Stuck in a war between vampires and zombie-walking Weeches, Aria and her eccentric crew take a stand for mankind as they fight for their right to survive. Hey, if you have to slaughter zombies and vampires, why not enjoy it?AUTHOR NOTE: This book is currently with the editor. A newly edited edition will be uploaded shortly. Thank you for your patience. Views: 797
The soul of a pedantic attorney plays hooky and falls in love.Shanna and her fellow monster hunters travel to New Orleans to investigate the disappearance of several students from a local private school. Of the many leads, they focus on a mansion bordering the property that is rumored to be haunted, opting to spend their nights within its decrepit walls to record any paranormal activity.While she is excited to be included in the mission, returning so close to home drudges up memories that Krystal would rather forget, forcing her to confront the dark roots of her powers as local voodoo legends seem to come to life around her.Betrayal is still fresh for the hunters, and as Shanna tries to cope with recent events and lose herself in the new mystery that surrounds them, she finds that she has to step up her game when things go downhill fast, and is left to make hard choices that could cost her friends their lives. Views: 795
The 5th Century BC.
The Greek city-states are engaged in perpetual war.
But one man towers above the chaos.
His name is Alkibiades.
He is at once a pirate, statesman and seducer whose adventures rival those of Odysseus himself.
Citizen of Athens, friend of Socrates, sailor, warrior and inveterate lover, Alkibiades flees persecution in his native city to join the Spartan cause.
However, his brilliant naval and diplomatic victories on their behalf do not save him from the consequences of impregnating the Spartan queen, and once more he takes up the outcast's mantle. Views: 792
"Thisbe An Extraordinary Cat - Her Adventures Continue..." picks up where the first book finished. It chronicles the final years in the life of that spunky, little cat. She is kidnapped, is featured in a stage production, meets new friends and acquires a new step-sister. She still receives visits from her ghost friends and experiences many exciting adventures. Fun reading for all who love animals!Thisbe An Extraordinary Cat - Her Adventures Continue…picks up where the first book, “The Tale of Thisbe An Extraordinary Cat” finished. This novel chronicles the final years in the life of that spunky, little cat named Thisbe. It begins with a short wrap up of the first book for those who need to catch up as told by Thisbe herself. She is back with her human Mom, Ana, in a strange new apartment in a land called Michigan. Thisbe doesn’t care for the small apartment because she has to hide from the mean old landlady who discovers Thisbe quite by accident. Ana sends Thisbe to a friend’s house for a little vacation to clear the apartment with the landlady. Thisbe has a grand time and meets some new cats. Returning to the apartment, Thisbe suffers from “cabin fever” and escapes one day for a bit of excitement only to be kidnapped by a local boy who is not very kind. It is a frightening and hurtful experience for Thisbe. Ana does eventually find her but Thisbe has learned her lesson and stays safely in the apartment. Thisbe soon discovers Ana packing to move. Joyously they travel to another place that is more animal friendly. Here Thisbe discovers her neighbors after she accidentally falls down a long abandoned heating duct. She is in heaven! She lands in the aviary in the downstairs apartment to befriend a cockatoo, a parrot and two lovebirds. The other animals living in the downstairs apartment consist of two dogs and two cats. Quite a menagerie! After living with just Ana for a while and missing the freedom of Belinda’s house, Thisbe is excited to find some new animal friends. The college where Ana is teaching dance has auditions for the cat in their production of “Bell, Book and Candle” and guess who is chosen? Why of course it’s Thisbe! She has a wonderful and exciting experience on stage.Ana moves again taking a summer job at the Theatre by The Lake and Thisbe enjoys wonderful adventures in a new larger home that has a secret pet door. Here she has freedom to escape the confines of the house without Ana suspecting a thing. She also gets to share a home with a new dog friend while Ana “babysits” a friend’s cocker-spaniel. Thisbe and Ana move again this time back to Massachusetts where Thisbe finally returns to her beloved home at Belinda’s. Ana moved in after her aunt passed away and Thisbe is home but for how long? Will Ana have to move again? When will Thisbe finally settle down? Does she still receive visits from Arturo and now Belinda? Thisbe acquires a new housemate and a step-sister much younger than her. How will that work out? Thisbe still has a few more adventures and where will they take her? This is a heartwarming story for all ages. Views: 789
Henry Pulling, a retired bank manager, meets his septuagenarian Aunt Augusta for the first time in over fifty years at what he supposes to be his mother's funeral. Soon after, she persuades Henry to abandon Southwood, his dahlias and the Major next door to travel her way, Brighton, Paris, Istanbul, Paraguay. Through Aunt Augusta, a veteran of Europe's hotel bedrooms, Henry joins a shiftless, twilight society: mixing with hippies, war criminals, CIA men; smoking pot, breaking all the currency regulations and eventually coming alive after a dull suburban life.
In Travels with my Aunt Graham Greene not only gives us intoxicating entertainment but also confronts us with some of the most perplexing of human dilemmas. Views: 789
Gordon Bennett is born with an alter ego / guardian angel named Zack. His extraordinary powers develop through childhood, but he only discovers where they have come from when he goes on holiday to Cornwall and meets the ghost of his sixteen greats grandmother. On his eleventh birthday he is transported to Avalon, where the wizard Myrddin tells him he is his heir...Gordon Bennett’s special powers first manifest themselves when he is five months old. He has an alter ego / guardian angel named Zack who knows a lot. The opening chapters exemplify the way his powers grow. He is ace at dealing with bullies. He travels in dreams through time and space. He goes wherever truth has found a cunning place to hide…In his eleventh year he’s called to a particular holiday cottage in Cornwall, where the ghost of his sixteen greats grandmother offers him an interesting theory concerning the origin of his amazing abilities. From her he acquires Mabon’s ring, and is told how to find the Tara Torque. On his eleventh birthday he is transported by the torque to Avalon (Tír na nÓg, the Land of the Forever Young, and of the Dead, where Frodo, Bilbo and Gandalf sailed off to with the Elves at the end of The Lord of the Rings). There he meets King Arthur and The Army of the Slain, and Myrddin reveals what is planned for him...Book 1 ends on Gordon’s first morning in secondary school, where he meets a girl with powers similar to his own… Views: 787
In 1935, the Spokane police regularly extorted sex, food, and money from the reluctant hobos (many of them displaced farmers who had fled the midwestern dust bowls), robbed dairies, and engaged in all manner of nefarious crimes, including murder. This history was suppressed until 1989, when former logger, Vietnam vet, and Spokane cop Tony Bamonte discovered a strange 1955 deathbed confession while researching a thesis on local law enforcement history. Bamonte began to probe what had every appearance of widespread police crime and a massive cover-up whose highlight was the unsolved murder of Town Marshall George Conff. The fact that many of those involved, now in their 80s and 90s, were still alive made it imperative that Bamonte unravel this mystery. The result is Breaking Blue, a white-knuckle ride through institutional corruption and cover-up that vividly documents Depression-era Spokane and an extraordinary case that few believed would ever be brought to light. Views: 785
Adam, Eve, and God hit a few bumps in the beginning of everything.I have been fasciated with the stories in Genesis and always felt the lessons contained therein might be veiled by a declination of quality of translation and transmission from the very start. Maybe what happened was a little different that what we've all read about. Views: 784
