The first in a fantastic series of animal stories for younger readers by Waterstones Children's Book Prize-shortlisted author Helen Peters, with beautiful black-and-white illustrations by Ellie Snowdon. Jasmine's dad is a farmer, and her mum is a large-animal vet, so Jasmine spends a lot of time caring for animals and keeping them out of trouble. Unfortunately, this often means she gets into hot water herself... When Jasmine sees a tiny, unloved piglet left to fend for itself, she knows it will die without her help. So she smuggles it home to her farm to nurse it back to health. But she can't keep Truffle forever, and then, one stormy night, disaster strikes... Brilliant storytelling that will make you laugh and cry, this is Dick King-Smith for a new generation. Look out for Jasmine's other adventures! A Duckling Called Button A Sheepdog Called Sky Views: 451
A hill is not a mountain.You climb it for you, then you put it quietly inside you, in a cupboard marked'Quite A Lot Of Hills' where it makes its infinitesimal mark on who you are. Ring the Hill is a book written around, and about, hills: it includes anorthern hill, a hill that never ends and the smallest hill in England. Eachchapter takes a type of hill – whether it's a knoll, cap, cliff, tor or even amere bump – as a starting point for one of Tom's characteristicallyunpredictable and wide-ranging explorations.Tom's lyrical, candid prose roams from an intimate relationship with a particularcove on the south coast, to meditations on his great-grandmother and a lesson onwhat goes into the mapping of hills themselves. Because a good walk in thehills is never just about the hills: you never know where it might lead. Views: 451
When a body is discovered in a locked toilet cubicle on the late-night train to Bath, Ishmael Jones is faced with his most puzzling case to date. When Ishmael Jones and his partner Penny are asked to escort a VIP on the late-night train to Bath, it would appear to be a routine case. The Organisation has acquired intelligence that an attempt is to be made on Sir Dennis Gregson's life as he travels to Bath to take up his new position as Head of the British Psychic Weapons Division. Ishmael's mission is to ensure that Sir Dennis arrives safely. How could anyone orchestrate a murder in a crowded railway carriage without being noticed and with no obvious means of escape? When a body is discovered in a locked toilet cubicle, Ishmael Jones has just 56 minutes to solve a seemingly impossible crime before the train reaches its destination. Views: 450
From the waters of Montauk to the mountains of the Caucasus and Paris in war times, these stories take you on a whirlwind tour that open unexpected vistas and insights. The book contains both memoir and fiction, told in the candid voice of a man who has lived through the 20th century’s major conflagrations, and seen much sadness, without losing his sense of humor .A great, enjoyable read for all.If every person’s life story can fill a book, Redjeb Jordania's can fill a bookshelf. The brilliant stories in this collection are just a small taste of the vast panorama of his experiences.From the waters of Montauk to the mountains of the Caucasus and Paris in war times, these stories take you on a whirlwind tour that open unexpected vistas and insights. The title story refers to Daghestan, a semi-autonomous region of the former Soviet Union, between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea, on the border of the republic of Georgia. Air distance between New York and Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, is 5,572 miles. Nearly 6,000 miles is far enough for an escape, but for Mr. Jordania the trip was actually a return to the land of his ancestors—a land he has never lived in due to its turbulent political history.Mr. Jordania is the son of the first president of pre-soviet Georgia, Noe Jordania, who had to flee the Red Army’s takeover in 1921, after only three years in office. Redjeb Jordania was born and educated in Paris, so that in the short story “A Hunting Trip to Daghestan,” he finds himself “a foreigner … barely able to speak the Georgian language” in the once-again independent republic.The book contains both memoir and fiction, all told in the candid voice of a man who has lived through the 20th century’s major conflagrations, and seen much sadness, without losing his sense of humor. The book is divided into two sections, Part I, subtitled “From far away in time and space,” and Part II, “closer to home.”The autobiographical stories in part one include the moving “Closing the Circle,” in which the author returns to the village where his father’s and grandfather’s house once stood. It is now “a grassy lot where a pair of long-haired black piglets were scurrying, hunting for chestnuts.” The villagers tell him that the family graves have been demolished—but a magnolia tree, planted by Jordania senior, remains, “regal now.”“The Music Lesson” is an account of Mr. Jordania’s early, and lasting, involvement with music, beginning with piano lessons from an eccentric, hard-drinking teacher and going on to a musical evening during World War II in Paris, when an Allied bombardment “offered an astonishing spectacle of son et lumiére.” “Is where they got the idea?” he wonders.In another wartime story, “A Surprise Party,” a group of Resistance fighters hide two British airmen who have managed to parachute into German-occupied France. The students in charge of helping them stay alive disguise the pilots as “Georgians”—because “nobody knows what a Georgian is supposed to look like.” It is a close call when the dreaded “milice” arrive to check everyone’s papers.More upbeat stories from “closer to home” recount adventures on the waters off Long Island—an encounter between the author’s small trimaran and the America Cup race—and a whimsical “Letter from the New World," in which Mr. Jordania recounts his epiphany that “there is no such country as the USA”—it is a joint invention of Madison Avenue and Hollywood!These stories by this multitalented, well-traveled author offer unique personal insights into recent political and social history on both sides of the Atlantic. A must read. Views: 450
After literally dodging a bullet and thwarting an attempted robbery, lovable loser Jim Bailey is thrust into the spotlight as a bona fide hero, a Messiah, a Real Life Neo of sorts. He's invited to appear on a morning talk show, and after making a complete ass of himself on national television, is given a choice: cash in on his celebrity or retreat into full on exile.Jim Bailey hates the spotlight. He hates it. Yet somehow, he always winds up in it. Dodger is his story, the story of a man in love with being in love, in love with being drunk, and in love with the idea of dodging responsibility and real life until the world ends completely. Along for the ride are the object of his affection, Kara, and Paige, the reporter who just won't let sleeping dogs lie and will stop at nothing to get Jim to spill his guts about everything. And so begins the tale of the Dodger... Views: 450
Roxanna Collins is a Vegas singer waiting for her big break. When a vampire from 1815 brings her back in time, she thinks she's lost her mind. But she manages to get something she didn't have in Vegas – a full-time singing gig. Granted, it's at a gentlemen's club, but at least she's standing on her own two feet and not in jail or shacked up with the first tall, dark, and brooding vampire who walks into her hallucination. So what if he's Darren Andrew Highmore, Earl of Richmond... Her request for a piano player lands her in the company of the very proper, very innocent, Phillip Branham, who can't decide whether he should be polite, disapproving, or...in love. Darren is dangerous, but Roxanna needs the special brand of pain he brings her. Phillip would offer her a future in the light, but she has secrets he doesn't understand. Must she choose or are their destinies intertwined? Views: 450
A story of the death of Osiris, and the journey of Isis to find the body of Osiris.This is a story of the murder and death of King Osiris of Ancient Egypt, and the story of the journey of Isis to find the body of her husband. Views: 450
When Lila and Alex sneak off for a romantic weekend away, Lila's hoping she'll finally have a chance to work on Alex's resolve.
But just as things start heating up news reaches them of a serial killer at loose on the island and it isn't long before their intimate weekend away is interrupted.
A mind reader, a projector, a protective older brother and a serial killer. Which one is going to find Lila first?
Set 8 weeks after the end of Losing Lila, this story will delight fans of Hunting Lila while introducing them to the characters and stunning location from Sarah's next book The Sound (published August 1st, 2013). Views: 449
Once, Peter Jackson was a name unknown to all but a small band of loyal fans and fellow filmmakers. Now, he is the newest member of Hollywood's elite fellowship, with his name on the most successful movie trilogy of all time. Written with Jackson's full participation, this extensive biography, illustrated with never-before-seen photos from Jackson's personal collection, tells the inside story of how a New Zealander became Hollywood's hottest property—from the early cult classics, through Academy Award-winning success with Kate Winslet's Heavenly Creatures, the abandoned King Kong remake, and the filming of The Lord of the Rings—a project which was abandoned two years into pre-production, rejected by most of the other studios, and then picked up by New Line Cinema in the biggest gamble in film history. Drawing upon interviews with 50 of Peter Jackson's colleagues and contemporaries, author Brian Sibley paints a portrait of a true auteur, a man gifted with single-minded determination and an artist's vision. Jackson himself is both revealing and insightful about his entire filmmaking life, from his first childhood steps filming in Super 8 to the grand realisation of his life's dream: King Kong. Together, these joint narratives provide a truly unique and compelling insight into one of the finest cinematic minds at work today. Views: 449
Before the Fall of the Empire of Astandalas, the Red Company was legendary. A dozen or so years after that cataclysm, they have almost faded into myth. Pali Avramapul may not have gone under her own name since the dissolution of the Red Company, but she is no myth, and has certainly not faded. She fights folly and injustice as fiercely as ever—although, as a respected scholar of history at one of the Circle Schools of Alinor, she now tends to use her tongue and pen more than her sword. She still keeps the sword sharp, of course. You never know when adventure will come calling. She expects her sabbatical to be a decorous, respectable sort of adventure, the kind with which she can regale her colleagues in the Senior Common Room upon her return. She’s not very upset when she finds one or two of her old friends and it turns out the adventure is much more likely to involve a plot to kidnap the Last Emperor of Astandalas. There’s respectable, after all, and then there’s respectable.
The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul follows after The Return of Fitzroy Angursell, but may be read on its own. Views: 449
20 short stories from the author of Maggie's Milkman to enjoy during your coffee break.20 short stories from the author of Maggie's Milkman to enjoy during your coffee break . Views: 448
An 18th Century English surgeon is born immune to pain, making him oblivious to the suffering of others. This accounts for his professional success which attracts the attention of the Empress of Russia. On the way to treat her, he runs into a witch who gives him the sensation of pain. That sends him mad but he recovers, emerging from the asylum with the knowledge that without pain one is not really human Views: 448
In A Fool For A Client, Hobie Burrows returns to San Francisco after the conclusion of A Dream Is A Pinhole In Time. Not only does he have to face a future without Keiko, Lott & Pembroke (his old law firm) undermines his plans to practice law as a solo practitioner in San Francisco. Can Tiranoan technology and a wealthy client help him succeed on either account?In A Fool For A Client, Hobie Burrows returns to San Francisco after the conclusion of A Dream Is A Pinhole In Time. Not only does he have to face a future without Keiko, Lott & Pembroke (his old law firm) undermines his plans to practice law as a solo practitioner in San Francisco. Can Tiranoan technology and a wealthy client help him succeed on either account?A Fool For A Client is a story in The Encircling Belts of Tirano Saga. Planet Tirano creates a unique milieu for the series The Encircling Belts of Tirano Saga. Its aristocracy consists only of pureblooded descendants of the leaders of the mother ship that landed two millennia ago. Genetically engineered women, conceived in vitro, control Tirano’s computer network and hyperspace portals. Vhirko, clones of women who died valiantly in battle, guard Tirano’s monarch. Tirano has been at war for decades with a savage alien species that becomes sentient only if mentally linked in groups of four or more.Tirano’s King Mhikhel unleashes fundamental, and uncontrollable, changes to this milieu when he acknowledges as his child an illegitimate son of a commoner and raises the child (Tarnlot) as a prince. Despite the aristocracy’s antagonism, Mhikhel grooms Tarnlot to serve as the Lord Chancellor (the highest governmental post, which is normally held by a member of the aristocracy) when Mhikhel’s heir (Prince Zhun’Mar) assumes the throne.In A Bastard’s Oath Tarnlot must rescue the throne for Zhun’Mar’s by foiling both an aristocrat’s coup d’etat and the aliens’ coup de main. In the series’ second installment, A Dream Is A Pinhole In Time, Tarnlot and Zhun’Mar escape an ambush in deep space by entering a hyperspace fissure that strands them on a planet in an unknown galaxy: present day Earth. The third installment, Outliers of Tirano, begins the stories of Siniastra, Zhun’Mar's daughter. Sibyl of Doom continues the story of Siniastra's quest to serve as Queen of Tirano despite the efforts of Tirano's aristocrats to remove her from the throne. Views: 448
An off-world trader and a green civil rights activist walk into a trendy restaurant on a desert planet...This unusual and provocative short story by Sara Zaske was shortlisted for The Reader's 2012 Short Story competition.After a war that nearly wipes everyone out, famine becomes the biggest problem as the toxic aftermath won't allow any growth. All of the plants and animals are nearly gone and people are dwindling. Then scientist come through by setting up farms in the vacant skyscrapers, using artificial sunlight and a sophisticated watering system. This story focuses on the regular schlubs that guard the farm. The only reason that the people that remained survived the famine was because they had slow metabolisms. The remaining society consists of former fatties. Not survival of the fittest, the narrator points out, but survival of the fattest. The two friends get themselves into a bind when one of them is challenged to an honor duel by a mutant. Views: 446
