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The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club Ser.)
by Barbara KingsolverNew York Times Bestseller • Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize • An Oprah's Book Club Selection“Powerful . . . [Kingsolver] has with infinitely steady hands worked the prickly threads of religion, politics, race, sin and redemption into a thing of terrible beauty.” —Los Angeles Times Book ReviewThe Poisonwood Bible, now celebrating its 25th anniversary, established Barbara Kingsolver as one of the most thoughtful and daring of modern writers. Taking its place alongside the classic works of postcolonial literature, it is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in Africa.The story is told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it—from garden seeds to Scripture—is calamitously transformed on African soil.The novel is set against one of the most dramatic political chronicles of the twentieth century: the Congo's fight for independence from Belgium, the murder of its first elected prime minister, the CIA coup to install his replacement, and the insidious progress of a world economic order that robs the fledgling African nation of its autonomy. Against this backdrop, Orleanna Price reconstructs the story of her evangelist husband's part in the Western assault on Africa, a tale indelibly darkened by her own losses and unanswerable questions about her own culpability. Also narrating the story, by turns, are her four daughters—the teenaged Rachel; adolescent twins Leah and Adah; and Ruth May, a prescient five-year-old. These sharply observant girls, who arrive in the Congo with racial preconceptions forged in 1950s Georgia, will be marked in surprisingly different ways by their father's intractable mission, and by Africa itself. Ultimately each must strike her own separate path to salvation. Their passionately intertwined stories become a compelling exploration of moral risk and personal responsibility.
Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses
by Bruce Feiler"The process of gathering these images reminded me of the Bible's effortless ability to reinvent itself for each generation and each new way of searching." -Bruce Feiler Its stories may be the best known in the world, but its locations have long been a mystery. Where did Noah's ark land? Where did Moses receive the Ten Commandments? Where are the lost cities of Sodom and Gomorrah? Now, in Walking the Bible: A Photographic Journey, New York Times bestselling author Bruce Feiler offers an unprecedented heart-stirring adventure through the landscape of some of history's most storied events. Featuring Bruce Feiler's own photography as well as his selections from professional collections, Walking the Bible: A Photographic Journey brings together breathtaking vistas, intimate portraits, and fascinating panoramas, providing firsthand access to the inscrutable land where three of the world's great religions were born-and finally puts a face on the stories that have long inspired the human spirit. Over several years, Feiler traveled nearly ten thousand miles through the deserts of the Middle East, which led first to his runaway national bestseller Walking the Bible. This new illustrated book follows his route, offering a thrilling photographic voyage through the actual places of some of the Bible's most memorable events-from the heights of Mount Ararat, where Noah's ark landed, to the desert outpost in Turkey, where Abraham first heard the words of God, to the summit where Moses overlooked the Promised Land. Walking the Bible: A Photographic Journey chronicles a landscape that nurtured the relationship between humans and the divine, breathing new meaning into stories that have been a timeless source of inspiration.
Equal Rites: A Discworld Novel (Witches #1)
by Terry Pratchett“Unadulterated fun. . . witty, frequently hilarious.”—San Francisco ChronicleChaos and hilarity ensue when a young woman becomes the first female wizard, upending the Discworld in this bitingly funny tale from internationally bestselling author Sir Terry Pratchett.A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it’s not half so bad as a lot of ignorance.Everyone knows there’s no such thing as a female wizard. So when a dying wizard accidentally passes on his staff of power to an eighth daughter of an eighth son, the exclusively masculine world of wizarding is thrown into a tailspin.Eskarina isn’t afraid of male critics and she isn’t going to relinquish this unexpected gift. With a little hocus pocus from Granny Weatherwax, the Discworld’s most infamous witch (an old crone who has plenty of experience ignoring the status quo), Esk infiltrates the magical Unseen University and befriends another apprentice, a wizard named Simon.But power is unpredictable, and these bright young students soon find themselves in a whole new dimension of trouble. . . .The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Equal Rites is the first book in the Witches collection. The Witches collection, in order, include:Equal RitesWyrd SistersWitches AbroadLords and LadiesMaskeradeCarpe Jugulum
Prayers for Rain (Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro Series #5)
by Dennis LehaneThe master of the new noir, Dennis Lehane delivers a shattering tale of evil, depravity, and justice that captures the dark realism of Boston's gritty blue-collar streets. Private Investigator Patrick Kenzie wants to know why a former client, a perky woman in love with life, could, within six months, jump naked from a Boston landmark--the final fall in a spiral of self-destruction. What he finds is a sadistic stalker who targeted the young woman and methodically drove her to her death. A monster the law can't touch. But Kenzie can. He and his former partner, Angela Gennaro, will fight a mind-twisting battle against this psychopath even as he turns his tricks on them.
Merlin: Book Two of the Pendragon Cycle (Pendragon Cycle #2)
by Stephen R. LawheadA stunning saga of courage and destiny in a legendary time of chaos and kingsHe was born to greatness, the son of a druid bard and a princess of lost Atlantis. A trained warrior, blessed with the gifts of prophecy and song, he grew to manhood in a land ravaged by the brutal greed of petty chieftains and barbarian invaders.MERLIN: Respected, feared and hated by many, he was to have a higher destiny. For it was he who prepared the way for the momentous event that would unite the Island of the Mighty--the coming of Arthur Pendragon, Lord of the Kingdom of Summer.MERLIN"Entertains and tantalizes . . . an exciting and thoughtful addition to the ranks of Arthurian fantasy." -Locus
Be Cool
by Elmore LeonardAfter one triumph and one flop, Mafia loanshark-turned-Hollywood producer Chili Palmer is desperate for another hit...of the celluloid sort. And when a similarly relocated former mob associate takes a hit of the bullet-in-the-brain variety while they're power-lunching, Chili begins to see all kinds of story possibilities. The whacked recording company mogul's midday demise is leading Chili into the twisted world of rock stars, pop divas, and hip-hop gangstas, which is rife with drama, jealousy, and betrayal -- all the stuff that makes big box office. Tinsel Town had better take cover, because Chili Palmer's working on another movie. And that's when people tend to die.
Tomb of the Golden Bird (Amelia Peabody Series #18)
by Elizabeth PetersConvinced that the tomb of the little-known king Tutankhamon lies somewhere in the Valley of the Kings, eminent Egyptologist Radcliffe Emerson and his intrepid wife, Amelia Peabody, seem to have hit a wall. Having been banned forever from the East Valley, Emerson, against Amelia's advice, has tried desperately to persuade Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter to relinquish their digging rights. But Emerson's trickery has backfired, and his insistent interest in the site has made his rivals all the more determined to keep the Emerson clan away. Powerless to intervene but determined to stay close to the unattainable tomb, the family returns to Luxor and prepares to continue their dig in the less promising West Valley-and to watch from the sidelines as Carter and Carnarvon "discover" the greatest Egyptian treasure of all time: King Tut's tomb. But before their own excavation can get underway, Emerson and his son, Ramses, find themselves lured into a trap by a strange group of villains ominously demanding "Where is he?" Driven by distress-and, of course, Amelia's insatiable curiosity-the Emersons embark on a quest to uncover who "he" is and why "he" must be found, only to discover that the answer is uncomfortably close to home. Now Amelia must find a way to protect her family-and perhaps even her would-be nemesis-from the sinister forces that will stop at nothing to succeed in the nefarious plot that threatens the peace of the entire region. Filled with heart-stopping suspense, political intrigue, and Amelia Peabody's trademark wit and wisdom, Tomb of the Golden Bird is the latest thrilling installment from the renowned and beloved "grande dame of historical mystery" (Washington Post).
Carved in Bone (Body Farm #1)
by Jefferson BassRenowned anthropologist Dr. Bill Brockton has spent his career surrounded by death at the Body Farm. Now he's being called upon to help solve a baffling puzzle in a remote mountain community. The mummified corpse of a young woman dead for thirty years has been discovered in a cave, the body bizarrely preserved and transformed by the environment's unique chemistry. But Brockton's investigation is threatening to open old wounds among an insular people who won't forget or forgive. And a long-buried secret prematurely exposed could inflame Brockton's own guilt--and the dangerous hostility of bitter enemies determined to see him fail . . . by any means necessary. With Fascinating Insider Information on the Body Farm!
Carved in Bone
by Jefferson BassThere is a patch of ground in Tennessee dedicated to the science of death, where human remains lie exposed to be studied for their secrets. The real-life scientist who founded the "Body Farm" has broken cold cases and revolutionized forensics . . . and now he spins an astonishing tale inspired by his own experiences.Renowned anthropologist Dr. Bill Brockton has spent his career surrounded by death at the Body Farm. Now he's being called upon to help solve a baffling puzzle in a remote mountain community. The mummified corpse of a young woman dead for thirty years has been discovered in a cave, the body bizarrely preserved and transformed by the environment's unique chemistry. But Brockton's investigation is threatening to open old wounds among an insular people who won't forget or forgive. And a long-buried secret prematurely exposed could inflame Brockton's own guilt--and the dangerous hostility of bitter enemies determined to see him fail . . . by any means necessary.With Fascinating Insider Information on the Body Farm!
Carved in Bone
by Jefferson BassThere is a patch of ground in Tennessee dedicated to the science of death, where human remains lie exposed to be studied for their secrets. The real-life scientist who founded the "Body Farm" has broken cold cases and revolutionized forensics . . . and now he spins an astonishing tale inspired by his own experiences.Renowned anthropologist Dr. Bill Brockton has spent his career surrounded by death at the Body Farm. Now he's being called upon to help solve a baffling puzzle in a remote mountain community. The mummified corpse of a young woman dead for thirty years has been discovered in a cave, the body bizarrely preserved and transformed by the environment's unique chemistry. But Brockton's investigation is threatening to open old wounds among an insular people who won't forget or forgive. And a long-buried secret prematurely exposed could inflame Brockton's own guilt--and the dangerous hostility of bitter enemies determined to see him fail . . . by any means necessary.With Fascinating Insider Information on the Body Farm!
Conventions of War: Dread Empire's Fall (Dread Empire's Fall Series #3)
by Walter J. WilliamsThe universe has fallen into bloody chaos now that the dread empire of the tyrannical Shaa is no more -- at the mercy of the merciless insectoid Naxid, who now hunger for domination. But the far-flung human descendants of Terra have finally tasted liberty, and their warrior heroes will not submit. Separated by light-years, Lord Gareth Martinez and the mysterious guerrilla fighter Caroline Sula each pursue a different road to victory in tomorrow's ultimate battle -- for the new order will be far more terrible than the old ... unless one last, desperate stratagem can hold a shattered galaxy together.
A Woman Betrayed
by Barbara DelinskyA classic novel from an exceptional storyteller, A Woman Betrayed, first published in 1991, is a stunning tale of troubling secrets that can hide beneath the placid surface of a seemingly good marriage--and the courage that's needed to move on.Laura Frye has been happily married to her husband, Jeff, for twenty years. She has everything she ever wanted: strong, enduring, romantic love; two wonderful kids; even her own successful catering business. But her picture-perfect world shatters into a thousand pieces when Jeff mysteriously disappears.Laura is certain the man she married would never leave his family voluntarily. But as the days go by, she learns there was much more to her husband than she had ever suspected. As Jeff's many secrets come to light, Laura is left to wonder how well she really knew him--or if she knew him at all. In the wake of emotional disaster--with all she cherished in ruins around her--she will have to reach deep inside herself for the strength and will to hold her family together and somehow reclaim her life.
What Came Before He Shot Her (A Lynley Novel #14)
by Elizabeth GeorgeDon't miss Lynley, a new series streaming September 4 on BritBox!#1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth George delivers an explosive, "absolutely riveting" novel (Entertainment Weekly) that delves into the events leading up to the shocking murder of Inspector Lynley’s wife.The brutal, inexplicable death of Inspector Thomas Lynley’s wife, Helen, has left Scotland Yard shocked and searching for answers. Even more horrifying is that the trigger was apparently pulled by a twelve-year-old boy.That story begins on the other side of London in rough North Kensington, where the three, mixed-race, virtually orphaned Campbell children are bounced first from their grandmother to their aunt. The oldest, fifteen-year-old Ness, is headed for trouble as fast as her high-heeled boots will take her. That leaves the middle child, Joel, to care for the youngest, Toby. No one wants to put it into words, but something clearly isn’t right with Toby.Before long, there are signs that Joel himself has problems. A local gang starts harassing him and threatening his brother. To protect his family, Joel ends up making a pact with the devil—a move that leads straight to the front doorstep of Thomas Lynley.The anatomy of a murder, the story of a family in crisis, What Came Before He Shot Her is a powerful and emotional novel, full of deep psychological insights, that only the incomparable Elizabeth George could write.
Soul Music: A Discworld Novel (Death #3)
by Terry Pratchett"Pratchett's Discworld yarns . . . are comic masterpieces. This one, unfailingly amusing and sometimes hysterically funny, is recommended for anyone with the slightest trace of a sense of humor." — Kirkus ReviewsThe sixteenth novel in the Discworld series from New York Times bestselling author Terry Pratchett — in which Death's granddaughter Susan must take over the family business.When her dear old Granddad— the Grim Reaper himself—goes missing, Susan takes over the family business. The progeny of Death's adopted daughter and his apprentice, she shows real talent for the trade. That is, until a little string in her heart goes "twang."With a head full of dreams and a pocketful of lint, Imp the Bard lands in Ankh-Morpork, yearning to become a rock star. Determined to devote his life to music, the unlucky fellow soon finds that all his dreams are coming true. Well almost.The Discworld novels can be read in any order, but Soul Music is the third book in the Death series and the sixteenth book in the Discworld series. The Death collection includes:MortThe Reaper ManSoul MusicHogfatherThief of Time
Honored Enemy (Legends of the Riftwar #1)
by William R. Forstchen Raymond E. FeistAs the Riftwar tears Midkemia apart, enemies trapped in the frozen Northlands must trust each other to stay alive. . . . In the sprawling, embattled land of Midkemia, fate can form strange alliances. Nine years into the bloody and ongoing Riftwar, Dennis Hartraft's Marauders are cold, hungry, and exhausted. Having only just survived a disastrous encounter with their sworn enemy, the Tsurani, the soldiers are headed for a frontier garrison, where they will be able to rest and recover. But Hartraft's company arrives at the same time as a Tsurani patrol, and both sides discover the stronghold overrun by a migrating horde of dark elves called moredhel, a foe so deadly and vicious the bitter enemies must band together and fight as one. But can their hatred for their mutual enemy overcome their distrust of each other? As the two groups, bound to each other by their common foe, make their way across the unknown Northlands to freedom, they have to struggle with not only the elements and the enemy, but also their consciences. For, with both sides carrying painful scars from past wars, each man must ask himself what is more important: one's life or one's honor?
T2: The Future War (Terminator Series #3)
by S.M. StirlingThe Machines are awake -- and aware ...There is no destiny but the one we have created ...There is no turning back -- the future war is now.
Baltimore Blues: The First Tess Monaghan Novel (Tess Monaghan #1)
by Laura LippmanUntil her paper, the Baltimore Star, crashed and burned, Tess Monaghan was a damn good reporter who knew her hometown intimately -- from historic Fort McHenry to the crumbling projects of Cherry Hill. Now gainfully unemployed at twenty-nine, she's willing to take any freelance job to pay the rent -- including a bit of unorthodox snooping for her rowing buddy, Darryl "Rock" Paxton. In a city where someone is murdered almost everyday, attorney Michael Abramowitz's death should be just another statistic. But the slain lawyer's notoriety -- and his noontime trysts with Rock's fiancee -- make the case front page news...and points to Rock as the likely murderer. But trying to prove her friend's innocence couls prove costly to Tess -- and add her name to that infamous ever-growing list.
Barracuda 945 (Arnold Morgan #6)
by Patrick RobinsonThe enemy from within . . . Iranian-born British Commando Major Ray Kerman was a rising star in the SAS -- until he abruptly switched loyalties while on a mission in the Middle East. Fanatically determined to employ his brilliant talents and training in the destruction of those he once swore to protect, he is now General Ravi Rashood, leader of the world's most vicious terrorist organization -- and he has found his ultimate weapon: Barracuda 945. A sleek and silent Russian hunter-killer nuclear submarine that can fire land-attack guided missiles from below the ocean's surface, it is invisible to all pursuers and virtually impossible to track. Yet Admiral Arnold Morgan, the President's National Security Adviser, must somehow marshal America's forces and hunt down this 8,000-ton nightmare of modern warfare before it unleashes its fire and death . . . or the first target to fall will be California.
The Last Continent: A Discworld Novel (Wizards #6)
by Terry Pratchett"If you are unfamiliar with Pratchett’s unique blend of philosophical badinage interspersed with slapstick, you are on the threshold of a mind-expanding opportunity.” —Financial TimesChaos ensues when Discworld’s deliciously hapless wizard Rincewind goes walking about in the Down Under in this wonderfully witty satire from legendary internationally bestselling author Sir Terry Pratchett.There’s big trouble at the Unseen University, Ankh-Morpork’s prestigious and only institute of higher learning. A professor is missing—and the one person who can find him is not only the most bumbling magician the school ever produced, he’s currently stranded in Fourecks, Discworld’s last (and unfinished) continent. The down-under is hot (so hot) and it’s dry (so dry)—though it’s rumored there was once this thing called The Wet, but no one believes that. Practically everything here that’s not poisonous is venomous.Discworld’s most inept wizard and his companion, Luggage, are eager to get home—but first Rincewind has to survive a pushy mystical kangaroo trickster named Scrappy and a mob of Fourecks hooligans determined to hang him. All his problems would be solved if he could just make it rain . . . for (maybe) the first time ever. And if the time-traveling professors from UU working on rescuing him can get to the right millennium . . .The Discworld books can be read in any order, but The Last Continent is the sixth book in the Wizards collection (and the 22nd Discworld book). The other books in the Wizards collection include:The Color of MagicThe Light FantasticSourceryEricInteresting TimesUnseen Academicals
Eight Million Ways to Die
by Lawrence BlockNobody knows better than Matthew Scudder how far down a person can sink in this city. A young prostitute named Kim knew it also--and she wanted out. Maybe Kim didn't deserve the life fate had dealt her. She surely didn't deserve her death. The alcoholic ex-cop turned p.i. was supposed to protect her, but someone slashed her to ribbons on a crumbling New York City waterfront pier. Now finding Kim's killer will be Scudder's penance. But there are lethal secrets hiding in the slain hooker's past that are far dirtier than her trade. And there are many ways of dying in this cruel and dangerous town--some quick and brutal ... and some agonizingly slow.
The Camelot Caper
by Elizabeth PetersThe Lethal Stuff of Legends For Jessica Tregarth, an unexpected invitation to visit her grandfather in England is a wonderful surprise-an opportunity to open doors to a family past that have always been closed to her. But sinister acts greet her arrival. A stranger tries to steal her luggage and later accosts her in Salisbury Cathedral. Mysterious villains pursue her through Cornwall, their motive and intentions unknown. Jessica's only clue is an antique heirloom she possesses, an ancient ring that bears the Tregarth family crest. And her only ally is handsome gothic novelist David Randall-her self-proclaimed protector-who appears from seemingly out of nowhere to help her in her desperate-attempt to solve a five hundred-year-old, puzzle. For something from out of the cloudy mists of Arthurian lore has come back to plague a frightened American abroad. And a remarkable truth about a fabled king and a medieval treasure could ultimately make Jess Tregarth very rich...or very dead.
My Sister, My Love: The Intimate Story of Skyler Rampike
by Joyce Carol OatesNew York Times bestselling author of The Falls, Blonde, and We Were the Mulvaneys, Joyce Carol Oates returns with a dark, wry, satirical tale--inspired by an unsolved American true-crime mystery."Dysfunctional families are all alike. Ditto 'survivors.'"So begins the unexpurgated first-person narrative of nineteen-year-old Skyler Rampike, the only surviving child of an "infamous" American family. A decade ago the Rampikes were destroyed by the murder of Skyler's six-year-old ice-skating champion sister, Bliss, and the media scrutiny that followed. Part investigation into the unsolved murder; part elegy for the lost Bliss and for Skyler's own lost childhood; and part corrosively funny exposé of the pretensions of upper-middle-class American suburbia, this captivating novel explores with unexpected sympathy and subtlety the intimate lives of those who dwell in Tabloid Hell.Likely to be Joyce Carol Oates's most controversial novel to date, as well as her most boldly satirical, this unconventional work of fiction is sure to be recognized as a classic exploration of the tragic interface between private life and the perilous life of "celebrity." In My Sister, My Love: The Intimate Story of Skyler Rampike, the incomparable Oates once again mines the depths of the sinister yet comic malaise at the heart of our contemporary culture.
Finding Moon: Novel, A
by Tony HillermanTony Hillerman's bestselling Navajo mysteries have thrilled millions of readers with their taut, intricate plotting, sensitive, subtle characterizations and lyrical evocations of landscapes and cultures. Now he departs his trademark terrain and applies his talents to a story he has wanted to tell for decades about an ordinary man thrust into total chaos. Until the telephone call came for him on April 12, 1975, the world of Moon Mathias had settled into a predictable routine. He knew who he was. He was the disappointing son of Victoria Mathias, the brother of the brilliant, recently dead Ricky Mathias and a man who could be counted on to solve small problems. But the telephone caller was an airport security officer, and the news he delivered handed Moon a problem as large as Southeast Asia. His mother, who should be in her Florida apartment, is fighting for her life in a Los Angeles hospital -- stricken while en route to the Philippines to bring home a grandchild they hadn't known existed. The papers in her purse send Moon into a world totally strange to him. They lure him down the back streets of Manila, to a rural cockfight, into the odd Filipino prison on Palawan Island and finally across the South China Sea to where Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge is turning Cambodia into killing fields and Communist rockets are beginning to fall on the outskirts of Saigon. Finding Moon is many things: a latter-day adventure epic, a deftly orchestrated romance, an arresting portrait of an exotic realm engulfed in turmoil, and a neatly turned tale of suspense. Most of all, it is a singular story of how a plain, uncertain man finds his best self.
The Touch of Twilight
by Vicki PetterssonOn the surface she's a sexy, sophisticated socialite, at home among the beautiful people of the Las Vegas upper crust. But Joanna Archer inhabits another world: a place ordinary humans cannot see . . . a dangerous dimension where an eternal battle rages between the agents of Light and Shadow. And Joanna is both. Stalked by an enigmatic doppelganger from a preternatural realm, Joanna can feel the Light failing-which is propelling her toward a terrifying confrontation with the ultimate master of evil, the dark lord of Shadow: her father. Vegas is all about winning big . . . or losing everything. To save her friends, her future, her worlds, Joanna Archer must gamble it all by fully embracing the darkness inside her.
Three Days to Never
by Tim PowersAlbert Einstein's groundbreaking scientific discoveries made possible the creation of the most terrible weapon the world had ever known. But he made another discovery that he chose to reveal to no one--to keep from human hands a power that dwarfed the atomic bomb. When twelve-year-old Daphne Marrity takes a videotape labeled Pee-wee's Big Adventure from her recently deceased grandmother's house, neither she nor her college-professor father, Frank, realize what they now have in their possession. In an instant they are thrust into the center of a world-altering conspiracy, drawing the dangerous attentions of both the Israeli Secret Service and an ancient European cabal of occultists. Now father and daughter have three days to learn the rules of a terrifying magical chess game in order to escape a fate more profound than death--because the Marritys hold the key to the ultimate destruction of not only what's to come . . . but what already has been.