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The Vanishing of Joni Blackwood: A brilliantly chilling and thrilling mystery debut novel
by Lisa RookesThe debris from the night before is scattered underneath the village tree and across the cobbles. Red wine stains the ground like blood. And Joni has vanished.Joni Blackwood is my best friend. She was there for my first crush, stood beside me at my wedding, watched my daughter grow up. She's been there through the painful mess of the divorce, too. So when she suddenly goes missing on All Gallows' Eve, I'm first to raise the alarm.People outside the village say she must have been sacrificed in some pagan ritual. But All Gallows' Eve isn't like that. We're just simple folk enjoying an annual bonfire to keep an old tradition alive. It's mulled cider and local mums running charity bake sales to be in with a chance of winning Gallows Queen. Joni wins every year.My mum used to say this village was built on the roots of The Gallows Tree, that they're underneath the ground, under all of our houses. It used to scare me as a kid. Thick, snaking roots squirming under me. No matter how far you ran, they could tunnel after you. And when the bones of a small child are unearthed in the church graveyard, I have to wonder how many secrets are running through our village, like the roots of the tree. And I wonder if Joni can really outrun hers. And I wonder if I can really outrun mine.The Vanishing of Joni Blackwood is an utterly compelling mystery with a twist you won't see coming. Perfect for fans of C J Tudor, Caroline Mitchell and Erin Kelly.
Vanity Fair
by William ThackerayNo one is better equipped in the struggle for wealth and worldly success than the alluring and ruthless Becky Sharp, who defies her impoverished background to clamber up the class ladder. Her sentimental companion Amelia, however, longs only for caddish soldier George. As the two heroines make their way through the tawdry glamour of Regency society, battles - military and domestic - are fought, fortunes made and lost. The one steadfast and honourable figure in this corrupt world is Dobbin with his devotion to Amelia, bringing pathos and depth to Thackeray's gloriously satirical epic of love and social adventure.
Vanity Fair
by William Makepeace Thackeray'I think I could be a good woman if I had five thousand a year' Becky Sharp is a poor orphan when she first makes friends with the lovely Amelia Sedley at Miss Pinkerton's Academy for Young Ladies. She may not have the natural advantages of her companion but she more than makes up for it with her wit, charm, deviousness and determination to make a success of herself in the world, whatever the cost. Vanity Fair is the story of anti-hero Becky's spectacular rise and fall as she gambles, manipulates and seduces her way through high society against the backdrop of Waterloo and the Napoleonic wars.
Vanity Fair (The Penguin English Library)
by William Makepeace ThackerayWith a selection of letters by Charlotte Brontë.'Vanitas Vanitatum! Which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire? or, having it, is satisfied?'No one is better equipped in the struggle for wealth and worldly success than the alluring and ruthless Becky Sharp, who defies her impoverished background to clamber up the class ladder. Her sentimental companion Amelia, however, longs only for caddish soldier George. As the two heroines make their way through the tawdry glamour of Regency society, battles - military and domestic - are fought, fortunes made and lost. The one steadfast and honourable figure in this corrupt world is Dobbin with his devotion to Amelia, bringing pathos and depth to Thackeray's gloriously satirical epic of love and social adventure.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.
Variable Star: A Novel
by Robert A. Heinlein Spider RobinsonA never-before-published masterpiece from science fiction's greatest writer, rediscovered after more than half a century.When Joel Johnston first met Jinny Hamilton, it seemed like a dream come true. And when she finally agreed to marry him, he felt like the luckiest man in the universe.There was just one small problem. He was broke. His only goal in life was to become a composer, and he knew it would take years before he was earning enough to support a family.But Jinny wasn't willing to wait. And when Joel asked her what they were going to do for money, she gave him a most unexpected answer. She told him that her name wasn't really Jinny Hamilton---it was Jinny Conrad, and she was the granddaughter of Richard Conrad, the wealthiest man in the solar system.And now that she was sure that Joel loved her for herself, not for her wealth, she revealed her family's plans for him---he would be groomed for a place in the vast Conrad empire and sire a dynasty to carry on the family business.Most men would have jumped at the opportunity. But Joel Johnston wasn't most men. To Jinny's surprise, and even his own, he turned down her generous offer and then set off on the mother of all benders. And woke up on a colony ship heading out into space, torn between regret over his rash decision and his determination to forget Jinny and make a life for himself among the stars.He was on his way to succeeding when his plans--and the plans of billions of others--were shattered by a cosmic cataclysm so devastating it would take all of humanity's strength and ingenuity just to survive.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Variable Valve Timings: Memoirs of a car tragic
by Chris Harris'What defines the car-saddo condition is not being able to recall a time when the toy-car-era of your life actually ended. Because for us sufferers, it never does.' Nobody knows cars like Chris Harris does. He calls it 'unhinged geekery', but the rest of the world call it infectious enthusiasm, adrenaline fuelled escapism and rigorous journalistic integrity.And then there are his famous skills at the wheel, from city cars to rally cars, not forgetting the Guinness World Record 3.4km sideways in an electric car.And now for the first time, Harris takes us down the road of his life-long obsession with the automobile - along surprising diversions, around hazards and obstructions, down the fast lane collecting Gs and back to the lock-up to prep the stock.From the six-year-old who could recite the stats from What Car? magazine to the YouTube car guru whose honest reviews got him banned by Ferrari. From the Scalextric track of his childhood, to podiums as a racing driver out in the world. From behind his garage doors to the floodlit Top Gear studio.Variable Valve Timings brings you an incredibly engaging story of adventure and petrolhead joy, told with wit, warmth and disarming honesty. This book is a true one-off, just like Chris.
Vassa in the Night: A Novel
by Sarah Porter“A dark, thoroughly modern fairy tale crackling with wit and magical mayhem.” —Leigh Bardugo, New York Times bestselling author of Shadow and Bone“An enchantingly twisted modern fairy tale, perfect for those who prefer Grimm to Disney. Inventive, darkly magical, and beautifully written, it will stay with me for a long time.” — Kendare Blake, New York Times bestselling author of Three Dark CrownsVassa in the Night is a powerful and haunting modern retelling of the Russian folktale “Vassilissa the Beautiful” for teen fans of urban fantasy, fairy tales, magic, and horror who enjoy books by Leigh Bardugo, Kendare Blake, Catherynne Valente, and V. E. Schwab. In the enchanted kingdom of Brooklyn, the fashionable people put on cute shoes, go to parties in warehouses, drink on rooftops at sunset, and tell themselves they’ve arrived. A whole lot of Brooklyn is like that now—but not Vassa’s working-class neighborhood. In Vassa’s neighborhood, where she lives with her stepmother and bickering stepsisters, one might stumble onto magic, but stumbling out again could become an issue. Babs Yagg, the owner of the local convenience store, has a policy of beheading shoplifters—and sometimes innocent shoppers as well. So when Vassa’s stepsister sends her out for light bulbs in the middle of night, she knows it could easily become a suicide mission. But Vassa has a bit of luck hidden in her pocket, a gift from her dead mother. Erg is a tough-talking wooden doll with sticky fingers, a bottomless stomach, and a ferocious cunning. With Erg’s help, Vassa just might be able to break the witch’s curse and free her Brooklyn neighborhood. But Babs won’t be playing fair....At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Vassal State: How America Runs Britain
by Angus HantonBritish politicians love to vaunt the benefits of the UK's supposed 'special relationship' with the US. But are we really America's economic partner - or its colony?Vassal State lays bare the extent to which US corporations own and control Britain's economy: how American business chiefs decide what we're paid, what we buy, and how we buy it. US companies have carved up Britain between them, siphoning off enormous profits, buying up our most lucrative firms and assets, and extracting huge rents from UK PLC - all while paying little or no tax. Meanwhile, policymakers, from Whitehall mandarins to NHS chiefs, shape their decisions to suit the whims of our American corporate overlords.Based on his 40 years of business experience, devastating new research, and interviews with the major players, Angus Hanton exposes why Britain has become the poor transatlantic relation - and what we can do to change it.
Vathek and Other Stories
by Malcolm Jack William BeckfordBeckford's Gothic novel Vathek, an Arabian tale, was originally written in French when the author was twenty-one. Published in English in 1786, it was one of the most successful of the oriental tales then in fashion. This edition makes available to a new generation of scholars and general readers, the originality of Beckford's ideas, and the excellence of his prose.
Vatican II on Church-State Relations: What Did the Council Teach, and What's Wrong With It?
by M. Y. CiftciShould religion and politics be kept apart? What should be the relationship between the church and the state? M.Y. Ciftci answers these questions by studying the most important event in the recent history of the Catholic Church: The Second Vatican Council (1962-65). The book provides a new interpretation of the Council’s teaching on church-state relations to better appreciate its flaws and need for reform. By paying attention to the (often overlooked) importance given by the Council to the lay apostolate, it reveals how the Council did not reform, as is often thought, but retained a flawed conception of the laity’s role in politics. It then proposes a new framework for understanding church-state relations using the ressourcement method of returning to scripture and tradition, and by a critical dialogue with Oliver O’Donovan and various Protestant biblical scholars of the Powers in the New Testament. Ciftci shows how fruitful an self-consciously ecumenical approach can be for political theology. As most ressourcement theologians have overlooked political issues, and since ecumenical theology rarely touches on issues of church-state relations, this work makes an original contribution to the ressourcement project and to ecumenism.
Vedi: Continents of Exile: 3 (Penguin Modern Classics)
by Ved MehtaBook 3 in Ved Mehta's Continents of Exile series. Nearly 50 years in the making, Continents of Exile is one of the great works of twentieth-century autobiography: the epic chronicle of an Indian family in the twentieth century. From 1930s India to 1950s Oxford and literary New York in the 1960s-80s, this is the story of the post-colonial twentieth century, as uniquely experienced and vividly recounted by Ved Mehta.Ved continues the story of Ved Mehta's two earlier memoirs, Daddyji, a biographical portrait of his father, and Mamaji, an exploration of his mother and her history. The focus here turns toward Mehta's childhood, his education in an Indian orphanage for the blind, and the general experience of blind people in India.
The Veg Box: 10 Vegetables, 10 Ways
by David Flynn Stephen FlynnDavid and Stephen Flynn, a.k.a the Happy Pear twins, are back with their simplest cookbook yet!The perfect collection for vegans, vegetarians, or anyone looking to eat more plant-based recipes - 'This book is awesome' Chris EvansAUBERGINE - BEETROOT - BROCCOLI - CABBAGE - CARROT - CAULIFLOWER - COURGETTE - LEEK - MUSHROOMS - POTATOESTen vegetables, ten ways, The Veg Box makes cooking veg easier and tastier than ever before! This vibrant book is packed with over 100 new recipes that use just ten ingredients or less and showcase the delicious and diverse ways you can enjoy each vegetable.Take carrots for example. Learn how to transform this simple produce into:Carrot and Sesame BurgersRoasted Carrot TagineChewy Flapjacks with Carrot and PistachioOr how about courgettes? Watch them become:Easy One-Pan Courgette PizzaCourgette Crepes with Spinach and RicottaCourgette and Lemon Loaf Cake with a Lemon Curd Building tips on eating more sustainably into family-friendly meals, quick weeknight dinners and sweet treats, this is healthy eating for our planet, our bodies and our tastebuds.'Proper good food, less waste and very simple, delicious plant-based recipes' Joe Wicks'Super practical and full of great recipes for eating more plants and reducing food waste' Fearne Cotton 'The lads have done it again! A great concept and a beautiful book to help us all cook more delicious veg' BOSH!'A delicious celebration of plants and all that they have to offer' Megan Rossi 'Their recipes are fantastic and you will love this book' Dr Rupy Aujla 'Delicious, sustainable meals everyone will enjoy' Dr Gemma Newman
The Vegan Air Fryer: Quick & easy, healthy meals
by Niki WebsterHealthy Eating Made Simple.This quick-and-easy cookbook makes healthy meal prep, and eating more veg, effortless.Everyone will love these delicious, vibrant breakfasts, snacks, lunches, dinners, baking and desserts cooked in your air fryer. If you’re new to vegan eating or have just got an air fryer, this book is for you.Find 70 plant-based recipes for beginners. Enjoy cooking:- Easy breakfasts- Simple lunches & light bites- Super quick meals – ready in 15 minutes or less- 30-minute meals - Bread, cakes, cookies & desserts
Vegan Junk Food: 200+ Vegan Recipes for the Foods You Crave—Minus the Ingredients You Don't (Vegan Junk Food Cookbook Ser. #2)
by Lane GoldWho said a vegan diet has to be boring—these healthy and satisfying twists on your favorite junk food let you have the best of both worlds! Have you committed to a vegan diet, but still find yourself dreaming of those taboo sugary, salty, and fried treats of your past? Don&’t panic—your old favorite junk foods may not be as bygone as you think…Vegan Junk Food, Expanded Edition proves that going vegan doesn&’t mean giving up your favorite comfort foods, or sustaining on plain broccoli and tofu every night of the week. With over 200 delicious (and animal-friendly!) twists on your favorite junk foods—from Loaded Nachos to Cheesy Kale Chips—you&’ll learn to make savory snacks that will satisfy your lingering cravings. Perfect for parties, snacks-on-the-go, or even late-night treats, these fun and easy recipes will impress friends and family alike—and might even inspire them to follow you on the path to a vegan lifestyle!
Veganeasy!: Delicious Food in 5 Ingredients
by Denise SmartA celebration of veg and simplicity. Vegan doesn’t get easier than this.Enjoy delicious and inspiring vegan recipes every day of the week - all made with only 5 ingredients that you can buy in your local supermarket.Turn to 3 mouth-watering chapters: Breakfast & Brunch, Light & Hearty Mains, Baking & Sweets for quick-and-easy recipes for week days and weekends. Try: Spiced tofu scramble on toastOne-pan brunchHarissa squash saladThai red curryKatsu aubergine currySweet potato gnocchi with sageSalted chocolate browniesThai mango ice creamYum.Make delicious meals without the hassle with Veganeasy.
Vegetarian Classics: 300 Essential and Easy Recipes for Every Meal
by Jeanne LemlinJeanne Lemlin sets the standard for accessible and appealing vegetarian cooking. Vegetarian Classics is Jeanne's most useful and comprehensive book to date: an essential collection of 300 no-fail recipes for soups, salads, sandwiches, pastas, pizzas, calzones, casseroles, stir-fries, stove-top dishes, sides, snacks, desserts, and breakfasts. Each recipe is deeply satisfying and surprisingly simple, reflecting Jeanne's trademark dedication to uncomplicated techniques and unparalleled flavor.
Velocity: The Seven New Laws for a World Gone Digital
by Ajaz Ahmed Stefan OlanderHow can you win when the only certainty is change? Highly accessible, lively and inspiring, Velocity draws upon the authors’ unique perspectives and experiences to present seven timeless new laws for businesses and individuals in a world that is dominated by rapid change and digital technology. Written as a fascinating and enjoyable conversation between the authors – Stefan Olander, Vice President of Digital Sport from Nike and Ajaz Ahmed founder and Chairman AKQA – Velocity's up-to-date examples illustrate key lessons, together with insights, ideas and inspiration that individuals and businesses should adopt to thrive in the digital age. Velocity shares the vision and values required to succeed with the untold backstories to influential and iconic innovation. Fast paced, useful, provocative and highly motivating, Velocity is a management book that will arm you with actionable ideas to define your future. Features: - 4 Velocity principles: Speed, Direction, Acceleration, Discipline. - 7 Laws, including 'A Smith & Wesson beats four aces', 'It’s easier done than said', 'Convenient is the enemy of right' and 'No good joke survives a committee of six'.
Velvet
by Jane FeatherClad in black velvet and posing as a widowed French comtesse, Gabrielle de Beaucaire had returned to England for one purpose only - to ruin the man responsible for her young lover's death. But convincing the forbidding Nathaniel Praed, England's greatest spy master, that she would make the perfect agent for his secret service would not be easy. And even after Gabrielle had lured the devastatingly attractive lord to her bed, she would have to contend with his distrust - and with the unexpected hunger that his merest touch aroused.From the moment he met her, Nathaniel Praed knew that the alluring Gabrielle de Beaucaire spelled trouble. But though he fought her outrageously bold advances, he could not stem the turbulent hunger that swept through him when the tall, titian-haired vixen pressed her lips to his. Now, against his better judgement, she is in his employ. And as Europe trembles at a tyrant's war and sinister minds plot against them, Nathaniel and Gabrielle fing themselves at the mercy of an exquisite passion and a love that could save - or destroy - both their lives.
Velvet Claws
by Cleo CordellA tight knot of desire uncoiled in Gwendoline as Jonathan pressed against her. This was the feeling her maid had told her about. Now Gwendoline was about to discover for herself how it felt to have a man inside her. The 19th century, a time of exploration and discovery, and the young and spirited Gwendoline Farnshawe is determined not to be left in the parlour making conversation. Especially when the handsome and celebrated anthropologist, Jonathan Kimberton, is planning a trip to Africa.Revelling against Victorian society's expectations of a young woman, and lured by the mysterious ritual and exotic climate of this exciting continent, Gwendoline sets sail with her entourage. She is bound for a land of unknown pleasures which are destined to awaken her true sensuality.By the author of The Captive Flesh and The Senses Bejewelled.
Velvet Glove
by Emma HollyAudrey Popkin realises she has bitten off more than she can chew when she gets embroiled with icy-cool banker, Sterling Foster. His ideas about how to have fun are more bizarre than any English Literature graduate should have to put up with! One morning she packs her bags and walks out of his luxury Florida apartment, heading back to Washington DC in search of a more regular deal with a more regular guy. But, for a girl like Audrey, this is not as easy as it sounds. When Patrick Dugan, the charismatic owner of an old-world bar with a talent for mixing the smoothest cocktails, fixes Audrey in his sights, some strange alliances are about to be formed. Within a week Audrey talks her way into a job at Patrick's bar and a room in the apartment he shares with a drag queen jazz singer called Basil - who has a great line in platinum wigs. Audrey soon realises that Patrick is not all he seems. Why is he pretending to be gay? And what is he covering up for his father, a pillar of the local community? Audrey is so besotted with the enigmatic barman that she doesn't realise they are connected by a mutual adversary - a steely, cold-hearted son of a bitch who will take them all down if he doesn't get his little plaything back.A fast-paced tale of everyday, amoral folk and the delicious cocktails they drink!
The Velvet Rope: A Novel
by Brenda L. ThomasLife is a party, but be careful who you invite. When Tiffany Johnson, a street-smart publicist at Platinum Images, decides to launch Teaz Entertainment and open a club, she's setting out to be the queen of Philly nightlife. Keeping it in the family, she partners up with her fiancé, Malik, and her sister, Kamille, and counts on her friend DJ Essence to bring the noise. Investors seem to be lining up and the buzz is gettin' loud. When Tiffany finds out that Malik and Kamille had an affair—and that it might not be the only secret they share—she spirals downward and gets swept up in two unexpectedly erotic affairs of her own. Awakening to a new kind of sexual freedom and reeling from betrayal, Tiffany is raw and vulnerable. So vulnerable that she doesn't realize that her new lovers are involved in more than kinky sex, and that they might take her new club down with them...unless she takes them down first.
Velvet Skin
by Aishling MorganHenry Truscott, hero of The Rake and Purity, returns in Velvet Skin to continue his habits of indulgence and dissipation. There are ample opportunities in eighteenth-century Devon for an imaginitive aristocrat to pursue his perversions. Even so, Henry manages to find himself in trouble - like being caught pony-carting on his own land by the local vicar, for example. But the fiendish, rapacious Lewis Stukely makes Truscott look like a monk - and Stukely has designs on Suki, Truscott's beguiling new servant-girl.Part of Aishling Morgan's Truscott saga.
Vendetta: Lucky's Revenge (Lucky Santangelo #4)
by Jackie CollinsLucky Santangelo is back—with a vengance!Dangerously sensual, breathtakingly beautiful, and utterly unforgettable, she is Lucky Santangelo, the sizzling star of Chances, Lucky, and Lady Boss. With Vendetta: Lucky's Revenge, Jackie Collins continues the saga of Lucky Santangelo in a nonstop, action-packed tale of sex, betrayal, drugs, intrigue, and murder.A scorching new installment of the wildly popular Lucky series, Vendetta finds Lucky in the most perilous situation of her life when her prized Panther Studios is taken from her by Donna Landsman, the unscrupulous widow of Lucky's arch-enemy, Santino Bonnatti. Donna intends to destroy Lucky in every way she can, but Lucky is street-smart, powerful, and just as ruthlessly dangerous. And so the battle for control begins.With Vendetta: Lucky's Revenge, Jackie Collins proves once again why she is an international powerhouse, a writer who digs deep into the glamorous, intoxicating—yet ultimately treacherous—world of Hollywood.
The Venetian Empire: A Sea Voyage
by Jan MorrisFor six centuries the Republic of Venice was a maritime empire, its sovereign power extending throughout much of the eastern Mediterranean – an empire of coasts, islands and isolated fortresses by which, as Wordsworth wrote, the mercantile Venetians 'held the gorgeous east in fee'. Jan Morris reconstructs the whole of this glittering dominion in the form of a sea-voyage, travelling along the historic Venetian trade routes from Venice itself to Greece, Crete and Cyprus. It is a traveller's book, geographically arranged but wandering at will from the past to the present, evoking not only contemporary landscapes and sensations but also the characters, the emotions and the tumultuous events of the past. The first such work ever written about the Venetian ‘Stato da Mar’, it is an invaluable historical companion for visitors to Venice itself and for travellers through the lands the Doges once ruled.