"Call it coincidence, call it fate. This is the place you come. There's no one else. This is the entire world."These words welcome Martin Maple to the village of Xibalba. Like the other children who've journeyed there, he faces an awful truth. He was forgotten.When families and friends all disappeared one afternoon, these were the only ones left behind. There's Darla, who drives a monster truck, Felix, who uses string and wood to rebuild the Internet, Lane, who crafts elaborate contraptions, and nearly forty others, each equally brilliant and peculiar.Inspired by the prophesies of a mysterious boy who talks to animals, Martin believes he can reunite them with their loved ones. But believing and knowing are two different things, as he soon discovers with the push of a button, flip of a switch, turn of a dial . . .From the Hardcover edition. Views: 42
Ninety-nine years of colonial rule are ending as the British prepare to hand over Hong Kong to China. For Betty Mullard and her son, Bunt, it doesn't concern them - until the mysterious Mr. Hung from the mainland offers them a large sum for their family business. They refuse, yet fail to realize Mr. Hung is unlike the Chinese they've known: he will accept no refusals. When a young female employee whom Bunt has been dating vanishes, he is forced to make important decisions for the first time in his life - but his good intentions are pitted against the will of Mr. Hung and the threat of the ultimate betrayal. Views: 42
From bestselling author Jon Krakauer, a stark, powerful, meticulously
reported narrative about a series of sexual assaults at the University
of Montana — stories that illuminate the human drama behind the
national plague of campus rape Missoula, Montana, is a
typical college town, with a highly regarded state university, bucolic
surroundings, a lively social scene, and an excellent football team — the Grizzlies — with a rabid fan base. The
Department of Justice investigated 350 sexual assaults reported to the
Missoula police between January 2008 and May 2012. Few of these assaults
were properly handled by either the university or local authorities. In
this, Missoula is also typical. A DOJ report released in
December of 2014 estimates 110,000 women between the ages of eighteen
and twenty-four are raped each year. Krakauer’s devastating narrative of
what happened in Missoula makes clear why rape is so prevalent on
American campuses, and why rape victims are so reluctant to report
assault. Acquaintance rape is a crime like no other. Unlike
burglary or embezzlement or any other felony, the victim often comes
under more suspicion than the alleged perpetrator. This is especially
true if the victim is sexually active; if she had been drinking prior to
the assault — and if the man she accuses plays on a popular sports
team. The vanishingly small but highly publicized incidents of false
accusations are often used to dismiss her claims in the press. If the
case goes to trial, the woman’s entire personal life becomes fair game
for defense attorneys. This brutal reality goes a long way
towards explaining why acquaintance rape is the most underreported crime
in America. In addition to physical trauma, its victims often suffer
devastating psychological damage that leads to feelings of shame,
emotional paralysis and stigmatization. PTSD rates for rape victims are
estimated to be 50%, higher than soldiers returning from war. In Missoula,
Krakauer chronicles the searing experiences of several women in
Missoula — the nights when they were raped; their fear and self-doubt in
the aftermath; the way they were treated by the police, prosecutors,
defense attorneys; the public vilification and private anguish; their
bravery in pushing forward and what it cost them. Some of them
went to the police. Some declined to go to the police, or to press
charges, but sought redress from the university, which has its own,
non-criminal judicial process when a student is accused of rape. In two
cases the police agreed to press charges and the district attorney
agreed to prosecute. One case led to a conviction; one to an acquittal.
Those women courageous enough to press charges or to speak publicly
about their experiences were attacked in the media, on Grizzly football
fan sites, and/or to their faces. The university expelled three of the
accused rapists, but one was reinstated by state officials in a secret
proceeding. One district attorney testified for an alleged rapist at his
university hearing. She later left the prosecutor’s office and
successfully defended the Grizzlies’ star quarterback in his rape trial.
The horror of being raped, in each woman’s case, was magnified by the
mechanics of the justice system and the reaction of the community. Krakauer’s
dispassionate, carefully documented account of what these women endured
cuts through the abstract ideological debate about campus rape.
College-age women are not raped because they are promiscuous, or drunk,
or send mixed signals, or feel guilty about casual sex, or seek
attention. They are the victims of a terrible crime and deserving of
compassion from society and fairness from a justice system that is
clearly broken. Views: 41
Their unexpected family Ellie Thomas was meant to be a surrogate mother to the baby growing inside her, but when her best friend abandons her, everything changes. The moment her son is born, Ellie knows she could never give him up! But the one person she can turn to for help is the doctor who delivered her child. Dr. Luke Gilmore didn't have a picture-perfect childhood, but he instinctively wants to protect Ellie and her baby. He was only passing through, but he may have just found a reason to stay... Views: 41
In 1924, the irrepressibly curious Alberto Denti arrived in Libya to work in Italy's African colonies. With a natural ear for a story and a passionate interest in his work, he must have been as good a doctor as he was a writer. Though equally at home in an embassy or a brothel, Denti appears to have preferred the company of Berbers and Eritreans to that of his fellow Italians. He conjures up the dignity of local chieftains, the palpable charms of celebrated courtesans, the excitement of Tuareg entertainers and the love lost between himself and a wounded lion cub with all the charm of a man who boasted of the 'inestimable satisfactions known only to those who have lived in Africa'. Views: 41
A collection of original travel stories told by some of the world's best novelists, including Isabel Allende, Keri Hulme, Peter Matthiessen, Alexander McCall Smith, Joyce Carol Oates, Téa Obreht and DBC Pierre.Exhilaratingly varied in place, plot, and voice, these tales all share one common characteristic: They manifest a passion for the precious gifts that travel confers, from its unexpected but inevitably enriching lessons about other peoples and places to the truths – sometimes uncomfortable but always enlarging – it reveals about ourselves."... a brilliant collection of travel stories ... threaded with great warmth, as readers are invited to travel in the company of these famous authors and experience their passions and revelations." Bookseller+Publisher Views: 41
A richly detailed, darkly hilarious novel of a family held together and torn apart by its narcissistic matriarch To those in her Cape Cod town, Mother is an exemplar of piety, frugality, and hard work. To her husband and seven children, she is the selfish, petty tyrant of Mother Land. She excels at playing her offspring against each other. Her favorite, Angela, died in childbirth; only Angela really understands her, she tells the others. The others include the officious lawyer, Fred; the uproarious professor, Floyd; a pair of inseparable sisters whose devotion to Mother has consumed their lives; and JP, the narrator, a successful writer whose work she disparages. As she lives well past the age of 100, her brood struggles with and among themselves to shed her viselike hold on them. Mother Land is a piercing portrait of how a parent's narcissism impacts a family. While the particulars of this tale are unique, Theroux encapsulates with acute clarity and... Views: 41
27 mystery tales of Dr. John Thorndyke (and others). Views: 41
THE STORY OF CUBAN BOXER AND POLITICAL PARIAH GUILLERMO RIGONDEAUX'S HARROWING DECISION TO DEFECT IN HOPES OF REAPING THE REWARDS OF THE AMERICAN DREAM."What is one million dollars compared to the love of eight million Cubans?"This was the question posed by legendary boxer Teofilo Stevenson in the 1970s, crowned by many as the Muhammad Ali of Cuba, in response to an offer of five million dollars to leave his island to fight Ali. But not all Cubans have come to the same conclusion, let alone with such apparent ease. Guillermo Rigondeaux, the heir to Stevenson's throne and two-time Olympic champion, sacrificed everything he had in his home country—his wife, his son, his government-subsidized car and house, as well as universal reverence among his fellow citizens—to try to make it in the mecca of big money boxing, the United States of America. But has the chance to make good in America been worth the loss of his national identity and the love of his... Views: 40
Here are the thrills, grandeur, and unabashed fun of the Greek myths, stylishly retold by Stephen Fry. The legendary writer, actor, and comedian breathes life into ancient tales, from Pandora's box to Prometheus's fire, and transforms the adventures of Zeus and the Olympians into emotionally resonant and deeply funny stories, without losing any of their original wonder. Classical artwork inspired by the myths and learned notes from the author offer rich cultural context. Views: 40
The story of a field cricket named Charlie who learns to sing. Views: 40
Considering the hundreds of thousands of words that have been written about Shakespeare, relatively little is known about the man himself. In the absence of much documentation about his life, we have the plays and poetry he wrote. In this addition to the Eminent Lives series, bestselling author Bryson (The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid) does what he does best: marshaling the usual little facts that others might overlook-for example, that in Shakespeare's day perhaps 40% of women were pregnant when they got married-to paint a portrait of the world in which the Bard lived and prospered. Bryson's curiosity serves him well, as he delves into subjects as diverse as the reliability of the extant images of Shakespeare, a brief history of the theater in England and the continuing debates about whether William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon really wrote Shakespeare's works. Bryson is a pleasant and funny guide to a subject at once overexposed and elusive-as Bryson puts it, he is a kind of literary equivalent of an electron-forever there and not there. Views: 40
