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The Island of Second Sight
by Albert Vigoleis ThelenAvailable for the first time in English, The Island of Second Sight is a masterpiece of world literature, first published in Germany in 1953 and hailed by Thomas Mann as "one of the greatest books of the twentieth century." Set on Mallorca in the 1930s in the years leading up to World War II, it is the fictionalized account of the time spent there by author--writing as Vigoleis, his alter-ego--and his wife, Beatrice, lured to the island by Beatrice’s dying brother, who, as it turns out not dying at all but broke and ensnared by the local prostitute. Pursued by both the Nazis and Spanish Francoists, Vigoleis and Beatrice embark on a series of the most unpredictable and surreal adventures in order to survive. Low on money, the couple seeks shelter in a brothel for the military, serves as tour guides to groups of German tourists, and befriends such literary figures Robert Graves and Harry Kessler, as well as the local community of smugglers, aristocrats, and exiled German Jews. Vigoleis with his inventor hat on even creates a self-inflating brassiere. Then the Spanish Civil War erupts, presenting new challenges to their escape plan. Throughout, Vigoleis is an irresistibly engaging narrator; by turns amusing, erudite, naughty, and always utterly entertaining. Drawing comparisons to Don Quixote and The Man Without Qualities, The Island of Second Sight is a novel of astonishing and singular richness of language and purpose; the story is picaresque, the voice ironic, the detail often hilarious, yet it is a work of profound seriousness, with an anti-war, anti-fascist, humanistic attitude at its core. With a style ranging from the philosophical to the grotesque, the colloquial to the arcane, The Island of Second Sight is a literary tour de force.
The Islands of the Blessed: The Sea Of Trolls; The Land Of The Silver Apples; The Islands Of The Blessed (Sea of Trolls #3)
by Nancy FarmerIn this much-anticipated conclusion to the Sea of Trolls trilogy, Notland is no place to seek one's true calling. Or is it?<P> The crowning volume of the trilogy that began with The Sea of Trolls and continued with The Land of Silver Apples opens with a vicious tornado. (Odin on a Wild Hunt, as the young berserker Thorgil sees it.) The fields of Jack's home village are devastated, the winter ahead looks bleak, and a monster--a draugr--has invaded the forest outside of town. But in the hands of bestselling author Nancy Farmer, the direst of prospects becomes any reader's reward. Soon, Jack, Thorgil, and the Bard are off on a quest to right the wrong of a death caused by Father Severus. Their destination is Notland, realm of the fin folk, though they will face plenty of challenges and enemies before get they get there. Impeccably researched and blending the lore of Christian, Pagan, and Norse traditions, this expertly woven tale is beguilingly suspenseful and, ultimately, a testament to love.
The Isles of the Gods (The Isles of the Gods #1)
by Amie KaufmanLooking for a sweeping summer read? Magic, romance, and slumbering gods clash in this riveting romantasy about a seafaring girl and a playboy prince who band together in a precarious journey. From the New York Times bestselling author of the Aurora Cycle and the Illuminae Files.Selly has salt water in her veins. So when her father leaves her high and dry in the port of Kirkpool, she has no intention of riding out the winter at home while he sails off to adventure. But any plans to follow him are dashed when a handsome stranger with tell-tale magician's marks on his arm commandeers her ship. He is Prince Leander of Alinor and he needs to cross the Crescent Sea without detection so he can complete a ritual on the sacred Isles of the Gods. Selly has no desire to escort a spoiled prince anywhere, and no time for his entitled demands or his good looks. But what starts as a leisure cruise will lead to acts of treason and sheer terror on the high seas, bringing two countries to the brink of war, two strangers closer than they ever thought possible and stirring two dangerous gods from centuries of slumber...
The It Girl
by Cecily Von ZiegesarTHE IT GIRL is the first in a sassy, sophisticated, completely addictive new series. Jenny has left her Manhattan school to attend Waverly Academy, an elite boarding school where glamorous rich kids don't let the rules get in the way of an excellent time. Jenny sets off to Waverly with big plans of reinventing herself. She'll be a goddess - she's a sophisticated city girl, after all! - and will find a boy who can properly worship her. But that's going to be a little tricky since her self-absorbed new roommates, Callie Vernon and Brett Messerschmidt, aren't exactly there to help - unless there's something in it for them. But if getting caught with boys and going up against the Disciplinary Committee is what it takes, Jenny's ready - she'll do all that and more to become The It Girl.
The It Girl: The Gossip Girl Prequel (It Girl #1)
by Cecily Von ZiegesarPopular Gossip Girl character Jenny Humphrey is leaving Constance Billard to attend Waverly Academy, an elite boarding school in New York horse country where glamorous rich kids don't let the rules get in the way of an excellent time. Determined to leave her Manhattan past behind her, Jenny sets off to Waverly with big plans of reinventing herself. She'll be a goddess--she's a sophisticated city girl, after all!--and will find a boy who can properly worship her. But that's going to be a little tricky since her self-absorbed new roommates, Callie Vernon and Brett Messerschmidt, aren't exactly there to help--unless there's something in it for them. Hot guys, new intrigue, and more delicious gossip all add up to more trouble than ever for Jenny. But if getting caught with boys and going up against the Disciplinary Committee is what it takes, Jenny's ready. She'll do all that and more to be The It Girl.
The Italians
by John HooperA vivid and surprising portrait of the Italian people from an admired foreign correspondentHow can a nation that spawned the Renaissance have produced the Mafia? How could people concerned with bella figura (keeping up appearances) have elected Silvio Berlusconi as their leader--not once, but three times? Sublime and maddening, fascinating yet baffling, Italy is a country of seemingly unsolvable riddles.John Hooper's entertaining and perceptive new book is the ideal companion for anyone seeking to understand contemporary Italy and the unique character of the Italians. Digging deep into their history, culture, and religion, Hooper offers keys to understanding everything from their bewildering politics to their love of life and beauty. Looking at the facts that lie behind the stereotypes, he sheds new light on many aspects of Italian life: football and Freemasonry, sex, symbolism, and the reason why Italian has twelve words for a coat hanger, yet none for a hangover.Even readers who think they know Italy well will be surprised, challenged, and delighted by The Italians.
The Ivy: Scandal
by Rina Onur Lauren KunzeAccusations, accusations . . . You know you're not the author of the "Ivy Insider" articles. But how are you going to prove it? Callie Andrews returns from spring break to find herself facing expulsion. Someone has framed her as the author of a series of anonymous articles vilifying an elite social club and now, unless she can prove her innocence, she can kiss her college education good-bye. So who is the Ivy Insider? Alexis the girl who has had it out for Callie since day one Gregory the guy who told her he loved her (at least she thought she heard that) but then he vanished in the middle of the night Matt his friendship supersedes his hatred for social clubs—right? or Vanessa Callie's best frenemy . . . or is it someone else entirely? Callie's made more than a few enemies during her freshman year, but can she count on her true friends—and the (missing, just-maybe-meant-to-be) love of her life—to pull through?
The Jade Cat: A Novel
by Suzanne Brøgger&“Brøgger&’s lively and insightful novel chronicles the fates of the Jewish Løvin family as they endure the tragicomic events of the 20th century.&” —Publishers Weekly From Denmark to Riga and back, through two World Wars, to India and Afghanistan, to America as it was and as it is, and through boarding schools, mental hospitals, and almshouses for the poor, Suzanne Brøgger&’s The Jade Cat is a sweeping family saga of almost limitless ambition. At the heart of the narrative and of this Jewish family unit is the grandmother, Katze, and her memories. She tells the story from her patrician apartment in Copenhagen&’s Gammel Mønt 14, where she has lived since the 1940s. It is a haunting portrait of the pride, conceit, grandness, and despair that has followed the Løvin family while the world outside the old apartment gradually fell apart. The family remains prey to drug addiction and suicide attempts. Some escape into sex, others into Evangelical politics or religion. With an unlikely but sympathetic cast of grotesques, this gripping saga of Danish highlife and lowlife through three generations of a tormented family is as diverse and uncompromising as William Styron&’s Sophie&’s Choice and Isabel Allende&’s The House of the Spirits. &“The novel, unabashedly autobiographical, concentrates on the inheritances of character, courage, and nonconformity from one woman to another.&” —Tablet &“[A] panoramic and often comic chronicle . . . A roman-fleuve of the Løvin family, based on memories and letters from Brøgger&’s own family.&” —The Telegraph &“A further index of this novelist&’s originality and power.&” —The Independent
The Jaguar
by T. Jefferson ParkerFor fans of Michael Connelly and CJ Box, the fifth audacious and white-hot novel in the Charlie Hood series from New York Times bestseller and Edgar-award winner T. Jefferson Parker, author of The Room of White Fire, that redefines the landscape of the thriller and shatters every expectation you ever had about the good guys and the bad... When Benjamin Armenta, leader of the powerful Gulf Cartel, kidnaps songwriter Erin McKenna, his demands are as unique as the jungle fortress in which Erin is imprisoned. She’s ordered to compose a narcocorrido, a folk ballad that will romanticize Armenta as one of the greatest desperadoes in Mexican history. Allowed to wander the hallways of the castle with only a guitar and a mysterious old priest to keep her company, Erin must produce the loveliest song these men have ever heard. Or she’ll be skinned alive. As Erin’s music wafts through the jungle, it serves as a siren call to the two men who love her: lawman Charlie Hood and Erin’s outlaw husband, Bradley Jones. They have the power to rescue her, but their long-simmering rivalry could very well compromise Erin’s deliverance and cause the ending of a life-and-death ballad to be rewritten in blood.From the Trade Paperback edition.
The Jane Austen Book Club
by Karen Joy FowlerIn California's central valley, five women and one man join to discuss Jane Austen's novels. Over the six months they get together, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitable, and love happens. With her eye for the frailties of human behavior and her ear for the absurdities of social intercourse, Karen Joy Fowler has never been wittier nor her characters more appealing. The result is a delicious dissection of modern relationships. Dedicated Austenites will delight in unearthing the echoes of Austen that run through the novel, but most readers will simply enjoy the vision and voice that, despite two centuries of separation, unite two great writers of brilliant social comedy.
The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth
by Thomas Jefferson"Question with boldness even the existence of a god," Thomas Jefferson asserted, "because if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear." America's third president regarded Jesus as a moral guide rather than a divinity, and in The Jefferson Bible, he highlights Christ's ethical teachings from the Gospels. Discarding the scriptures' supernatural elements and dogma, this volume reflects the deist view of religion, focusing on Jesus' message of absolute love and service.Jefferson undertook his self-appointed task in 1794, consulting not only the King James Bible but also Greek, French, and Latin versions. He selected verses from the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and arranged them in chronological order to form a single narrative. Although Jefferson shared his interpretation with friends and family, he declined to publish it, in keeping with his conviction that religion is a private matter—and also to avoid providing his political enemies with ammunition. Not until the turn of the twentieth century did the book appear in print, when it became a tradition to present it to new members of Congress. Unique and influential, this volume reflects not only the thinking of one of the nation's most brilliant statesmen, but also the ideology of the Enlightenment era.
The Jesus Creed for Students: Loving God, Loving Others
by Chris Folmsbee Scot McKnight Syler ThomasThe gravity point of a life before God is that his followers are to love God and love others with everything they have. Scot McKnight calls this "The Jesus Creed." Now, he's worked it out with high school and college students, seeking to show how this double commandment to love makes sense and gives shape to the moral lives of young adults. The Jesus Creed for Students aims to demonstrate a simple truth—that followers of Jesus, follow Jesus. Also, it's practical, filled with stories, and backed up and checked by youth pastors.
The John Varley Reader
by John VarleyFrom the moment John Varley burst onto the scene in 1974, his short fiction was like nothing anyone else was writing. His stories won every award the science fiction field had to offer, many times over. His first collection, The Persistence of Vision, published in 1978, was the most important collection of the decade, and changed what fans would come to expect from science fiction. Now, The John Varley Reader gathers his best stories, many out of print for years. This is the volume no Varley fan-or science fiction reader-can do without.
The Johnson Sisters
by Tresser HendersonThe Johnson sisters is the riveting story of a close knit bunch struggling to keep the family legacy going in spite of their differences.Vivian, the oldest sister, has the house, the nice car, designer clothes and money, but no man to share her life with. After a previous abusive relationship, she's struggling with her self-esteem. What will it take to convince her she's worthy of love? Shauna is the funny, happy-go-lucky sister. Give her a drink and she's content with the world--until one tragic event forces her to face her demons. The revelation of her secret threatens to damage her relationship with her sisters. Dawn feels like the black sheep of the family, and this feeling is reinforced when her sisters voice their opinion of her upcoming marriage. Will she be forced to choose between her family and her future husband? Serena is the only sister who has a child, but she's also got plenty of drama in her life. Her child's father already has another crazy baby mama, so he has no intention of marrying anyone. Serena believes love can conquer all, but will love be enough for her to endure this roller coaster relationship? Phoenix, the baby of the bunch, says she's never getting married. Diva extraordinaire, Phoenix enjoys the life she has, until one of her men invades the sanctity of her home and finds a way to lawfully squat in her home. When secrets begin to spill and resentments from the past come flooding back, it's a pressure cooker of drama that could leave these sisters divided, and possibly destroyed, in the end.
The Joke and Its Relation to the Unconscious
by Sigmund FreudWhy do we laugh? The answer, argued Freud in this groundbreaking study of humor, is that jokes, like dreams, satisfy our unconscious desires. The Joke and Its Relation to the Unconscious explains how jokes provide immense pleasure by releasing us from our inhibitions and allowing us to express sexual, aggressive, playful, or cynical instincts that would otherwise remain hidden. In elaborating this theory, Freud brings together a rich collection of puns, witticisms, one-liners, and anecdotes, which, as Freud shows, are a method of giving ourselves away. .
The Joshua Files: Ice Shock
by M. G. HarrisThough he knows about the secret Mayan prophesy that his father and grandfather were a part of, Josh still hasn't solved the mystery surrounding his father's death. But when Josh learns that a special artifact, the Bracelet of Itzamna, is the key to both that and the mystery of the codex, he must return to the hidden city of Ek Naab. Only this time he must do it alone-because as the stakes rise, Josh can no longer trust even his closest allies. This second installment of the action-packed Joshua Files series brings readers back to the secret world of the Mayan civilization, where the mysterious 2012 prophecy still threatens the world. Does Josh have what it takes to make it out alive once again?
The Journals of Rachel Scott
by Beth NimmoWritten teen to teen as a first-person narrative, this is not a book about the Columbine shootings - instead, it's a story of faith, told in Rachel's own words. The book includes first person narratives, journal entries, drawings from Rachel's diary, and notes from her parents and friends at Columbine High School. Additionally, "me pages" (what makes me angry, what I'm afraid of) encourage teens to explore issues central to their lives and faith. Highlighting Rachel's faith journey from the time she became a Christian, through her joys and doubts, her hopes and dreams, this story is a triumphant testimony that teens will treasure.
The Journey Home
by Zoe SalingerIn this multigenerational family saga, a woman falls for a handsome French stranger, only to discover their families share a tragic Holocaust history. Dominique Rappaport, New York heiress to her family&’s art world fortune, wants more out of life than fancy society parties. More than the man her parents want her to wed for the sake of the business merger their marriage would bring. Still, Dominique travels to Paris to spend time with Pierre, only to find herself drawn to another man . . . A struggling medical student, Julian Adler wants nothing to do with Dominique. After all, Julian has his grandfather&’s legacy of heroism during the French Resistance to live up to. He doesn&’t have time for the haughty beauty, no matter how much she intrigues him. Until chance brings them together once more, and a mutual attraction draws them closer. But when Dominique discovers the tragedy that binds their families together, will their love be enough to rise above it?
The Journey Through Wales and The Description Of Wales
by Lewis Thorpe Betty Radice Gerald of Wales StaffThe Journey Through Wales - The Description Of Wales
The Joy Luck Club: A Novel (Cambridge Literature Ser.)
by Amy Tan<p>Amy Tan’s beloved, <i>New York Times</i> bestselling tale of mothers and daughters <p>Four mothers, four daughters, four families whose histories shift with the four winds depending on who's "saying" the stories. In 1949 four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. United in shared unspeakable loss and hope, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. Rather than sink into tragedy, they choose to gather to raise their spirits and money. "To despair was to wish back for something already lost. Or to prolong what was already unbearable." Forty years later the stories and history continue. <p>With wit and sensitivity, Amy Tan examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between mothers and daughters. As each woman reveals her secrets, trying to unravel the truth about her life, the strings become more tangled, more entwined. Mothers boast or despair over daughters, and daughters roll their eyes even as they feel the inextricable tightening of their matriarchal ties. Tan is an astute storyteller, enticing readers to immerse themselves into these lives of complexity and mystery.</p>
The Judging Eye: One (The Aspect-Emperor Trilogy) (The Aspect-Emperor Trilogy #0)
by R. Scott BakkerThe acclaimed author of the Prince of Nothing series returns with a new epic fantasy set in the same richly layered universe. With his Prince of Nothing series, R. Scott Bakker won legions of fans and comparison to fantasy luminaries such as J.R.R. Tolkien and Frank Herbert. Now comes The Judging Eye, Bakker&’s first novel in a new series set in the world of Earwa, twenty years after the end of The Thousandfold Thought—a world that is both familiar yet profoundly changed. To prevent a second apocalypse, an emperor gathers a vast army and draws a reluctant king into holy war. Meanwhile, an empress finds herself threatened by assassins and an exiled wizard seeks his enemy&’s secrets. Delving even further into his richly imagined universe of myth, violence, and sorcery, Bakker delivers a fantasy novel that defies expectations.
The Judgment of Yoyo Gold
by Isaac BlumA smart and powerful story set in the Orthodox Jewish community about what it means to fit in, break out, and find your own way, by the award-winning author of The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen. This book is Gossip Girl + My Name Is Asher Lev + I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter.Yoyo Gold has always played the role of the perfect Jewish daughter. She keeps kosher, looks after her siblings, and volunteers at the local food bank. She respects the decisions of her rabbi father and encourages her friends to observe the rules of their Orthodox faith. But when she sees her best friend cast out of the community over a seemingly innocent transgression, Yoyo&’s eyes are opened to the truth of her neighbors&’ hypocrisies for the first time. And what she sees leaves her shocked and unmoored.As Yoyo&’s frustration builds, so does the pressure to speak out, even if she can only do so anonymously on TikTok, an app that&’s always been forbidden to her. But when one of her videos goes viral—and her decisions wind up impacting not only her own life but also her relationship with the boy she&’s falling for—Yoyo&’s world is thrown into chaos. She is forced to choose which path to take, for her community, for her family, and most importantly, for herself.Award-winning author Isaac Blum returns with a new novel that asks what it really means to be part of a community—and what it means to break free.
The Jump
by Brittney MorrisFrom the acclaimed author of SLAY and The Cost of Knowing comes an action-driven, high-octane &“thrill ride&” (Kirkus Reviews) about a group of working-class teens in Seattle who join a dangerous scavenger hunt with a prize that can save their families and community.Influence is power. Power creates change. And change is exactly what Team Jericho needs. Jax, Yas, Spider, and Han are the four cornerstones of Team Jericho, the best scavenger hunting team in all of Seattle. Each has their own specialty: Jax, the puzzler; Yas, the parkourist; Spider, the hacker; and Han, the cartographer. But now with an oil refinery being built right in their backyard, each also has their own problems. Their families are at risk of losing their jobs, their communities, and their homes. So when The Order, a mysterious vigilante organization, hijacks the scavenger hunting forum and concocts a puzzle of its own, promising a reward of influence, Team Jericho sees it as the chance of a lifetime. If they win this game, they could change their families&’ fates and save the city they love so much. But with an opposing team hot on their heels, it&’s going to take more than street smarts to outwit their rivals.
The Jungle
by Upton Sinclair Eric Schlosser Ronald Gottesman"Practically alone among the American writers of his generation, [Sinclair] put to the American public the fundamental questions raised by capitalism in such a way that they could not escape them. " --Edmund Wilson When it was first published in 1906, The Jungle exposed the inhumane conditions of Chicago's stockyards and the laborer's struggle against industry and "wage slavery. " It was an immediate bestseller and led to new regulations that forever changed workers' rights and the meatpacking industry. A direct descendant of Dickens's Hard Times, it remains the most influential workingman's novel in American literature. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
The Jungle (Abridged)
by Upton Sinclair Janice GreeneIn this abridgement of Upton Sinclair's novel, The Jungle, younger readers are introduced to the history of immigrants employed in the meat packing industry in the early 1900's in Chicago. They get an idea of the struggles faced by folks new to America at that time.