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Islands of Silence: A Novel
by Martin BoothIslands of Silence is the story of the young Alec Marquand, who in the summer of 1914 has just graduated from college with a degree in archaeology. He has been hired by the lord of a remote country estate in the Scottish Highlands to survey the ancient Stone Age brochs that lie on his property. Once there Alec comes upon a small island which is called Eilean Tosdach--the Island of Silence. What Alec discovers on that island changes him forever. And just as Alec makes his amazing find, he is shipped off to war . . . a war he does not want to fight, but one in which he ends up as a medic aboard a ship ready to storm the beaches of Gallipoli.A brilliantly crafted novel in the tradition of All's Quiet on the Western Front and The Ghost Road, Islands of Silence is a tour through one man's hell in search of a path for redemption.
George & Sam: Two Boys, One Family, and Autism
by Charlotte MooreFor the parents, families, and friends of the 1 in 250 autistic children born annually in the United States, George and Sam provides a unique look into the life of the autistic child. Charlotte Moore has three children, George, Sam, and Jake. George and Sam are autistic. George and Sam takes the reader from the births of each of the two boys, along the painstaking path to diagnosis, interventions, schooling and more. She writes powerfully about her family and her sons, and allows readers to see the boys behind the label of autism. Their often puzzling behavior, unusual food aversions, and the different ways that autism effects George and Sam lend deeper insight into this confounding disorder.George and Sam emerge from her narrative as distinct, wonderful, and at times frustrating children who both are autistic through and through. Moore does not feel the need to search for cause or cure, but simply to find the best ways to help her sons. She conveys to readers what autism is and isn't, what therapies have worked and what hasn't been effective, and paints a moving, memorable portrait life with her boys.Charlotte Moore is a writer and journalist who lives in Sussex, England with her three sons. She is the author of four novels and three children's book. For two years she wrote a highly acclaimed column in the Guardian called "Mind the Gap" about life with George and Sam. She is a contributor to many publications.
Fencing the Sky: A Novel
by James GalvinA haunting novel of the American West about an accidental murder that springs from the best intentions.Stepping his horse through the lush, beaver-worked draw looking for stray cows, Mike Arans never imagined that, moments later, he'd find himself swinging a nylon loop around Merriweather Snipes and pulling until his neck snapped. Once Snipes was dead, Mike fished a notepad and a stub of pencil from his pocket, wrote "I did this," signed his name, and stuffed the note into Snipes's breast pocket. Then Mike rode to his house, stocked up on supplies, and rode due west.Fencing the Sky is the story of how circumstances spiral out of control, the story of gross indifference and avarice in the face of breathtaking beauty. Ultimately, James Galvin's novel is a book about violence and how it destroys lives when the land is at stake. This long-awaited lyrical first novel is nothing less than the story of the disappearance of the American West.
The Frequency of Souls: A Novel
by Mary Kay ZuravleffA staid refrigerator designer's life is changed by a quirky, spiritual female colleague who is obsessed with finding electrical evidence of life after death in this extraordianry debut novel.
Who We Be: The Colorization of America
by Jeff ChangRace. A four-letter word. The greatest social divide in American life, a half-century ago and today.During that time, the U.S. has seen the most dramatic demographic and cultural shifts in its history, what can be called the colorization of America. But the same nation that elected its first Black president on a wave of hope—another four-letter word—is still plunged into endless culture wars. How do Americans see race now? How has that changed—and not changed—over the half-century? After eras framed by words like "multicultural" and "post-racial," do we see each other any more clearly? Who We Be remixes comic strips and contemporary art, campus protests and corporate marketing campaigns, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Trayvon Martin into a powerful, unusual, and timely cultural history of the idea of racial progress. In this follow-up to the award-winning classic Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation, Jeff Chang brings fresh energy, style, and sweep to the essential American story.
Riding Steele (Ready to Ride)
by Opal CarewIn the arms of an outlaw, she found the freedom to live out her wildest fantasies. Don't miss this scorching erotic romance from New York Times bestselling author Opal Carew, now available for the first time as a complete novel!When Laurie is kidnapped by bikers, she has no idea her life is about to change forever. From the moment she meets Steele—their sinfully sexy leader—she can't deny their fierce attraction. Even though she's completely at his mercy, his eyes soften when he looks at her, and the others in his gang know she's strictly hands off. But the more time she spends with Steele, the more her body insists she wants his powerful hands all over her.Now she's about to discover a new life on the open road…and what it means to be part of a gang that shares everything. At first their wanton lifestyle shocks her senses—but once she's had a taste of life on the edge, will she ever want to leave?
Housewitch: A Novel
by Katie SchickelAllison Darling, former foster child, now a stay-at-home mom of three, desperately wants to fit in with the organic latte drinking, hundred-dollar-yoga-pants-wearing moms who run Monrovia, her charming seaside village. Constantly feeling like an outsider, Allison dreams of more for her children. When the Glamour Girls, a soap-selling company run by the most charismatic and powerful women in town, recruits Allison, she jumps at the invitation. The Glamor Girls have a hand in everything in Monrovia, from bake sales to business deals. This is what Allison's wanted her whole life—to be liked. To be popular. To belong. After Allison's estranged mother passes away, she learns her family's heartbreaking legacy and the secret Allison's been fighting to suppress all her life emerges: she's a witch. What's more, she's not the only one in town. There's more to the Glamour Girls then it seems… and once you're a Glamour Girl, there's no going back. Allison must use her rediscovered magic to defend Monrovia, protect her marriage and her children, and reclaim her legacy. Fighting tooth and nail for her family is easy, but what about for herself? Is it too late to confront her own demons and become the woman she dreams of being? "Katie Schickel's debut entertains while delightfully skewering our culture's obsession with domestic perfection. In the spirit of John Updike's Witches of Eastwick and Alice Hoffman's Practical Magic, Schickel casts a spell all her own. Housewitch takes us deep inside the dark arts of 21st century motherhood and sparkles with unexpected magic." —Amber Dermont, New York Times bestselling author of The Starboard Sea At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
They Eat Horses, Don't They?: The Truth About the French
by Piu Marie EatwellThey Eat Horses, Don't They?:The Truth About the French tells you what life in France is really like. Do the French eat horses? Do French women bare all on the beach? What is a bidet really used for?In this hilarious and informative book, Piu Marie Eatwell reveals the truth behind forty-five myths about the French, from the infamous horsemeat banquets of the nineteenth century that inspired an irrepressible rumor, to breaking down our long-held beliefs about French history and society (the French are a nation of cheese-eating surrender monkeys, right?).Eatwell lived in France for many years and made the most of long French weekends, extended holidays, and paid time off to sit on French beaches, evaluate the sexual allure of the French men and women around her, and, of course, scan café menus for horses and frogs. As a result, They Eat Horses, Don't They? reveals a fascinating picture of historical and contemporary France—a country that has both changed radically in the twenty-first century, but yet still retains much of the mystery, romance, and allure that has seduced foreigners for decades. Truth, as always, is stranger than fiction. . . .
Daughters of the House: A Novel
by Michèle RobertsA Booker Prize Finalist, Daughters of the House is Michèle Roberts' acclaimed novel of secrets and lies revealed in the aftermath of World War II. Thérèse and Léonie, French and English cousins of the same age, grow up together in Normandy. Intrigued by parents' and servants' guilty silences and the broken shrine they find in the woods, the girls weave their own elaborate fantasies, unwittingly revealing the village secret and a deep shame that will haunt them in their adult lives.
A Watery Grave: A Mystery (Wiki Coffin Mysteries #1)
by Joan DruettThe year is 1838, and after more than ten years in the planning, the famous United States Exploring Expedition is set to launch into uncharted waters from the coast of Virginia. A convoy of seven ships filled with astronomers, mapmakers, naturalists, and the sailors charged with getting them around the world, the "Ex. Ex." is finally underway, with much fanfare.Aboard the convoy as ship's linguist is Wiki Coffin. Half New Zealand Maori and half American, Wiki speaks numerous languages and is expected to help the crew navigate the Pacific islands that are his native heritage. But just before departure Wiki, subject to the unfortunate bigotry of the time, is arrested for a vicious murder he didn't commit.The convoy sails off, but just before the ships are out of reach Wiki is exonerated, set free to catch up with his ship and sail on. The catch: the local sheriff is convinced that the real murderer is aboard one of the seven ships of the expedition, and Wiki is deputized to identify the killer and bring him to justice. Full of the evocative maritime detail and atmosphere that have won her numerous awards for her nonfiction, Joan Druett's A Watery Grave is the mystery debut of a masterful maritime writer.
The Famine Ships: The Irish Exodus to America
by Edward LaxtonBetween 1846 and 1851, more than one-million people--the potato famine emigrants--sailed from Ireland to America. Now, 150 years later, The Famine Ships tells of the courage and determination of those who crossed the Atlantic in leaky, overcrowded sailing ships and made new lives for themselves, among them the child Henry Ford and the twenty-six-year-old Patrick Kennedy, great-grandfather of John F. Kennedy. Edward Laxton conducted five years of research in Ireland and interviewed the emigrants' descents in the U.S. Portraits of people, ships, and towns, as well as facsimile passenger lists and tickets, are among the fascinating memorabilia in The Famine Ships.
The Tribes of Palos Verdes: A Novel
by Joy NicholsonJoy Nicholson's The Tribes of Palos Verdes is a Los Angeles Times bestseller and now a major motion picture starring Jennifer Garner, Maika Monroe, and Cody Fern.“Nicholson captures the California-coast culture. . . . Medina shows what it’s like to feel ‘six million years old’ way before your time."—Entertainment Weekly“Impressive . . . Captures what it is to be young, intelligent, and very alone.”—Us WeeklyMedina Mason is a defiant, awkward fourteen-year-old living in the affluent beach community of Palos Verdes, California. The pressure is intense in their high-stakes world, and Medina’s family begins to break under the stress. Her parents’ marriage disintegrates and her beloved brother turns to drugs in order to cope. Medina turns to the ocean to escape it all. She surfs to survive, finding a bitter solace in the rough comfort of the waves.“An inspiring portrait of a young woman unswayed by other people’s pettiness” (Mademoiselle), this is the moving story of growing up “different,” of the love between siblings, and of one girl’s power to save herself
How It Was for Me: Stories
by Andrew Sean GreerIn the title story of this collection, neighborhood boys crouch in a backyard toolshed, and conspire to prove their piano teachers to be witches. In "Cannibal Kings," a disillusioned young man accompanies a troubled boy on a tour of prep schools through the Pacific Northwest, only to realize that he has lost his way in life. And in "Come Live With Me And Be My Love," a middle-aged gentleman looks back at his mannered early life as a Ivy Leaguer, married to a vivacious woman but silently yearning for his best friend -- and the sacrifices that each made to uphold their compromising bargain.With a classic storyteller's gift for nuance and understanding, and a poet's grace for language, Andrew Sean Greer makes a remarkable debut with How It Was For Me.
Franco: A Concise Biography
by Gabrielle Ashford HodgesGeneral Francisco Franco came to prominence during the days of David Lloyd George and Woodrow Wilson and was able to cling to absolute political power until his death in 1975. Over his fifty-year career, he became one of the four dictators who changed the face of Europe during the twentieth century.Franco joined the Spanish Army when he was barely fifteen years old. In 1926 he became the youngest general in Europe and, driven by an astonishing sense of his own greatness, was recognized as sole military commander of the Nationalist zone during the Spanish Civil War. His ambition was always to hold on to the power that he had secured. In practice, this meant winning the Spanish Civil War and surviving the fall of the fascist regimes of Hitler and Mussolini and the international isolation that followed their defeat.But behind the military heroics and dexterous political footwork lay an insecure and vengeful man, wracked by contradictory impulses. Although fueled by a single-minded determination to succeed, he was full of self-doubt. A bold and sometimes inspirational soldier in Africa, he became an indecisive, hesitant military commander during the Civil War. Filled with a burning conviction that his destiny was bound up with the medieval kings of Spain and God Himself, he appeared shy, withdrawn, and humble. Ruthlessly intent on wiping out all political opposition, he denied heatedly that he was a dictator. A stubborn man, he could be remarkably flexible when it came to safeguarding his power.Gabrielle Ashford Hodges' psychological biography considers Franco's mental state, as well as his political motivation. In doing so, it succeeds admirably in getting under the skin of Europe's most enduring dictator.
An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America
by Henry WiencekAn Imperfect God is a major new biography of Washington, and the first to explore his engagement with American slaveryWhen George Washington wrote his will, he made the startling decision to set his slaves free; earlier he had said that holding slaves was his "only unavoidable subject of regret." In this groundbreaking work, Henry Wiencek explores the founding father's engagement with slavery at every stage of his life--as a Virginia planter, soldier, politician, president and statesman. Washington was born and raised among blacks and mixed-race people; he and his wife had blood ties to the slave community. Yet as a young man he bought and sold slaves without scruple, even raffled off children to collect debts (an incident ignored by earlier biographers). Then, on the Revolutionary battlefields where he commanded both black and white troops, Washington's attitudes began to change. He and the other framers enshrined slavery in the Constitution, but, Wiencek shows, even before he became president Washington had begun to see the system's evil. Wiencek's revelatory narrative, based on a meticulous examination of private papers, court records, and the voluminous Washington archives, documents for the first time the moral transformation culminating in Washington's determination to emancipate his slaves. He acted too late to keep the new republic from perpetuating slavery, but his repentance was genuine. And it was perhaps related to the possibility--as the oral history of Mount Vernon's slave descendants has long asserted--that a slave named West Ford was the son of George and a woman named Venus; Wiencek has new evidence that this could indeed have been true.George Washington's heroic stature as Father of Our Country is not diminished in this superb, nuanced portrait: now we see Washington in full as a man of his time and ahead of his time.
Cities of the Red Night: A Novel
by William S. BurroughsWhile young men wage war against an evil empire of zealous mutants, the population of this modern inferno is afflicted with the epidemic of a radioactive virus. An opium-infused apocalyptic vision from the legendary author of Naked Lunch is the first of the trilogy with The Places of the Dead Roads and his final novel, The Western Plains.
Concrete Island: A Novel
by J. G. BallardOn a day in April, just after three o'clock in the afternoon, Robert Maitland's car crashes over the concrete parapet of a high-speed highway onto the island below, where he is injured and, finally, trapped. What begins as an almost ludicrous predicament soon turns into horror as Maitland-a wickedly modern Robinson Crusoe-realizes that, despite evidence of other inhabitants, this doomed terrain has become a mirror of his own mind. Seeking the dark outer rim of the everyday, Ballard weaves private catastrophe into an intensely specular allegory in Concrete Island.
Fractured: A Thriller (Detective Ellie MacIntosh #4)
by Kate WattersonBlending mystery and romance, Kate Watterson's Fractured finds Detective Ellie MacIntosh racing to stop a serial killer.Milwaukee homicide detective Ellie MacIntosh's bizarre case takes gruesome to a new level—and is eerily and frustratingly familiar. She has seen the signature work of the killer before, but cannot connect the victims. There isn't a single suspect in sight, but at least the case gives Ellie something to focus on instead of her chaotic personal life.Ellie's partner, Jason Santiago, is glad to be back on the job, even on a disturbing case like this one. Working with Ellie has evolved into a tangled relationship that is no longer platonic, at least to him. The trouble is, she has no idea how he feels. Jason's chance to make a move is now, but he's paralyzed by the fear he will ruin both his career and a partnership he values more than any he has ever had.Therapist Dr. Georgia Lukens is fascinated by the complicated relationship between Ellie and Jason, but she has other, non-detective patients with deeper problems. When a timid woman named Rachel reveals that she suspects her promiscuous and charismatic roommate Lea has been involved in the grisly murders, Georgia is put into the untenable position of deciding if this privileged information is just the ramblings of a delusional patient or something more. And little does she know that Lea has become focused on Jason Santiago.As Ellie pieces together a macabre puzzle of past and present sins, it becomes clear that madness takes many forms and…it may be too late to stop her partner from becoming the next victim.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Web of Deceit: A Mystery (The Ella Marconi Mysteries)
by Katherine HowellShortlisted for the 2013 Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime FictionOften compared to Karin Slaughter and Patricia Cornwell, prize-winning author Katherine Howell thrills readers in this gripping novel featuring a determined homicide detective and a team of emergency medics.When frantic man refuses to leave the car that witnesses say he deliberately crashed, paramedics Jane and Alex think it's a desperate cry for help. But his paranoid claims that someone is out to get him only confirm official reports that he is delusional.When he is indeed found dead in what looks like a suicide, Jane is uneasy: she remembers the raw terror in his eyes.Detective Ella Marconi shares these doubts, which are compounded as the case becomes increasingly tangled. The victim's boss tries to commit suicide, a witness flees, and closer to home, a woman is attacked in front of Jane's house. Then Alex's daughter goes missing.As Ella tries to add up the clues, the investigation is hampered by her budget-focused boss. Then, just when she thinks she's closing in, a shocking turn of events endangers more people, and Ella just may see the killer slip through her hands.
Sovereign Ladies: Sex, Sacrifice, and Power: The Six Reigning Queens of England
by Maureen WallerMaureen Waller has written a fascinating narrative history---a brilliant combination of drama and biographical insight on the British monarchy---of the six women who have ruled England in their own names. In the last millennium there have been only six English female sovereigns: Mary I and Elizabeth I, Mary II and Anne, Victoria and Elizabeth II. With the exception of Mary I, they are among England's most successful monarchs. Without Mary II and Anne, the Glorious Revolution of 1688 might not have taken place. Elizabeth I and Victoria each gave their name to an age, presiding over long periods when Britain made significant progress in the growth of empire, prestige, and power. All of them have far-reaching legacies. Each faced personal sacrifices and emotional dilemmas in her pursuit of political power. How to overcome the problem of being a female ruler when the sex was considered inferior? Does a queen take a husband and, if so, how does she reconcile the reversal of the natural order, according to which the man should be the master? A queen's first royal duty is to provide an heir to the throne, but at what cost? In this richly compelling narrative of royalty, Maureen Waller delves into the intimate lives of England's queens regnant in delicious detail, assessing their achievements from a female perspective.
A Life of Privilege, Mostly: A Memoir
by Gardner BotsfordGardner Botsford's A Life of Privilege tells the fascinating and humorous story of his WWII experiences, from his assignment to the infantry due to a paperwork error to a fearful trans-Atlantic crossing on the Queen Mary, to landing under heavy fire on Omaha Beach and the Liberation of Paris. After the war, he began a distinguished literary career as a long-time editor at the New Yorker, and chronicles the magazine's rise and influence on postwar American culture with wit and grace.
Madam Secretary: A Biography of Madeleine Albright
by Thomas BloodThomas Blood’s Madame Secretary is a riveting biography of the first woman U. S. Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, “the ultimate independent woman” (The New York Times Magazine).No American envoy has ever burst on the diplomatic scene and grabbed center stage in the theater of foreign relations like Madeleine Albright. Navigating difficult terrain as few can, Washington D. C. insider Thomas Blood provides exclusive interviews with, and revealing anecdotes from, politicians, friends, adversaries, and colleagues, including former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Senators Leahy, Mikulski, Kerrey, Helms, Reid, and Rockefeller, and House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt.This unique biography reveals the dramatic story of the first woman U.S. Secretary of State. Rather than providing a simple chronology, Blood focuses on the defining moments in Madeleine Albright’s life, identifying the periods that best open a window on the Secretary of State’s uncanny ability to triumph over adversity, her unparalleled success in politics and her meteoric rise to dominance in the world of foreign policy. From her family’s thrilling escape from Czechoslovakia to her astounding rise to power to her victories and setbacks as the head of American foreign policy, Madeleine Albright’s life unfolds like a major motion picture.An immensely readable biography that illuminates key experiences in Albright’s career and personal life, Madam Secretary introduces us to Madeleine Albright the person, the politician, the policymaker.
Breathe: A Novel
by Anne-Sophie BrasmeNOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTUREAnne-Sophie Brasme's Breathe is the haunting confession of nineteen-year-old Charlene Boher. From her prison cell, Charlene recounts her lonely adolescence. Growing up shy and unpopular, Charlene never had many friends. That is, until she meet Sarah, a beautiful and charismatic American-French girl who moved back to Paris for high school. Much to Charlene's shock and delight, the two girls quickly develop an intense friendship. With Sarah by her side, Charlene finally begins to feel accepted and even loved. However, after a brief idyllic period, the girls' relationship becomes rocky and friendship veers towards obsession. As Sarah drops Charlene for older, more glamorous friends, Charlene's devotion spirals into hatred. Unfolding slowly and eerily towards a shocking conclusion, Anne-Sophie Brasme's Breathe is an intense, convincing portrait of a possessive and ambiguous friendship.
The Good Old Stuff: Adventure SF in the Grand Tradition
by Gardner DozoisNineteen-ninety-nine looms near and yet the stars are still far away . . . but this anthology brings them closer with more than a dozen of the best SF adventure stories ever written. Among the gems collected here are "The New Prime," by Jack Vance, " Fritz Leiber's "Moon Duel," and "The Sky People," by Poul Anderson, along with masterpieces by less-familiar names such as Murray Leinster and James H. Schmitz.With more than a dozen stories (written between 1940 and 1970) from greats such as Brian W. Aldiss, Leigh Brackett, L. Sprague de Camp, and A. E. van Vogt, this anthology ranges throughout our galaxy and into the stars. Whether you're revisiting past adventures or discovering these stories for the first time, you're sure to thrill to these wonderful adventures across the vast expanse of space.
The Family Plot: A Novel
by Cherie PriestFrom Cherie Priest, author of the enormously successful Boneshaker, The Family Plot is a haunted house story for the ages—atmospheric, scary, and strange, with a modern gothic sensibility that’s every bit as fresh as it is frightening.Music City Salvage is owned and operated by Chuck Dutton: master stripper of doomed historic properties and expert seller of all things old and crusty. Business is lean and times are tight, so he’s thrilled when the aged and esteemed Augusta Withrow appears in his office. She has a massive family estate to unload—lock, stock, and barrel. For a check and a handshake, it’s all his.It’s a big check. It’s a firm handshake. And it’s enough of a gold mine that he assigns his daughter Dahlia to personally oversee the project.Dahlia and a small crew caravan down to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the ancient Withrow house is waiting—and so is a barn, a carriage house, and a small, overgrown cemetery that Augusta Withrow left out of the paperwork.Augusta Withrow left out a lot of things.The property is in unusually great shape for a condemned building. It’s empty, but Dahlia and the crew quickly learn it is far from abandoned. There is still something in the Withrow mansion, something angry and lost, and this is its last chance to raise hell before the house is gone forever.Other BooksBoneshakerButton Man and the Murder Tree, TheDreadnoughtFathomFiddleheadFour and Twenty BlackbirdsGanymedeInexplicables, TheNot Flesh Nor FeathersWings to the KingdomAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.